An 8 Year Old Goes To Europe For A Wedding? Say What?

The best trip of my life was back in 2001 and it was the first time I went to Europe with my family. I was eight years old and this was certainly the most interesting and entertaining trip, I've ever been on.

This trip was not your ordinary vacation. My brother was going to get married in Sweden, so my mom planned this wonderful two week summer vacation to go along with the wedding. We planned to go to: Paris, France, Malmo, Sweden, Copenhagen, Denmark, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Berlin, Germany, Munich, Germany, Geneva, Switzerland and Milan, Italy.

However a couple months before the trip, the wedding was called off. The trip was nonrefundable, so even though the wedding was not happening, our vacation sure was. Now my brother and the girlfriend did not take the whole trip with us. They were only in Sweden for the "wedding" and only my parents, my other brother and I went on the two week getaway.

As a child I enjoyed Paris the most, something about that city felt right to me. Maybe that's because in my mind, there was soft served ice cream and pastries everywhere. There was also a moment where my family left me in the hotel room by myself and I was terrified because I had no idea where they went. I got ice cream after that so everything was okay.

We traveled by train and that truly is the best way to travel in Europe. No matter where you are in Europe you'll always see the beautiful scenery. Plus there's nothing more amazing than riding a train throughout the European countryside.

There was even one train ride where we had to get on a ferry, and the train actually got put on the ferry, there was a track and everything. That little thing just amazed me at such a young age! A train on a boat?! How cool is that?

Copenhagen was one of my favorite cities on that trip and I'm dying to go back. I got to go to Tivoli Gardens, the world famous amusement park, and inspiration to Disneyland. My most favorite part of Copenhagen was seeing the Little Mermaid statue. Because you know me, Disney freak here, and I love the Little Mermaid! The Little Mermaid statue is in Denmark, because the author, Hans Christian Andersen, is Danish. Denmark is such a cute little fairytale like country and I loved it.

Another city I loved was Geneva, a beautiful Swiss city surrounded by a lake. Our hotel was supposed to be right on the water. Back then there was no Google Maps, so we could not look it up or see the Yelp reviews. Instead we had to trust our travel agent. Well our hotel was not on the lake, it actually was about a mile away and was the dirtiest place I had ever been to. So we went to the Hilton, which was actually on the lake, and checked to see if there were any rooms available. Luckily there were and we even got a suite after telling them our story about being duped. So we left the dumpy hotel and stayed at the Hilton.

Traveling to so many places at such a young age can have its disadvantages. A lot having to do with memories. There were some cities I really didn't remember seeing or remember anything about.

It's sad to say I barely remember being in Germany, because it's such a beautiful country and it's one of my mother lands. I remember some moments, but I don't remember being there. I'd love to go back and see what I can't remember and hopefully jog my memory.

I also don't remember being in Amsterdam. But that is because we didn't spend a lot of time there. We were there for a day trip I think, I know we didn't stay overnight. The reason why I don't remember it is because I slept through it. I think I was tired/jet lagged because there are several pictures of me sleeping in a taxi and at a restaurant. And I have chosen to not share those photos with you all today.

The major advantage of traveling at a young age is that once you start you never want to stop. Traveling can be an addiction, but it is a healthy one because when you see the world you learn a bunch of new things about the world you live and about yourself. This trip started my travel addiction, and I don't see it ever going away. Until next time.