While everyone else was “spring breaking” locally, Christi Brown and four seniors– Jalonda Steen, Linesha Miller, Khadijah Thompson, and Akeisha Norris, set out on a week long voyage to a foreign country.
The trip lasted the entire week with not one dull moment. With Europe as the destination, it took four different flights to arrive.
Saturday morning, the girls set out to Jackson for the first flight to Dallas. Then they got on a plane for a 10-hour flight to Madrid, Spain. Because this flight went into the night, Brown and the girls caught a nap. After landing in Madrid, they crawled aboard the last flight to Milan, Italy.
Top, Khadijah Thompson; center, Akeisha Norris, Linesha Miller, and, front, Jalonda Steen.
“It’s pretty confusing when NO one there speaks your language, and the signs are all of the native language,” exclaimed Brown.
As soon as they were on the ground, they drove about four hours to their first hotel to enjoy a meal and crash into their beds; each of them was exhausted.
Monday, they awoke and drove to a train station. While on the train, they rode into the mountains to Cinque Terre, which means five villages, in Italian. They spent the day touring the magnificent villages. Tuesday, they departed from their first hotel and drove down the coast of the French Riviera. Their first stop was the principality of Monaco. They visited the Palace and saw the changing of the guard.
“Monaco looked like a Fairy Kingdom. Every blade of grass was perfect. There are more millionaires per capita in Monaco than any other place in the world.
We ate lunch there and got back on the tour bus to go to Fragonard, the perfume factory. We watched a demonstration about perfume and got to purchase some. While the girls shopped in the perfume shop, I walked up a steep mountain to the small village of Eze. It was like walking back in time. The streets were cobblestone and very narrow. The walls on each side went up about 45 feet. There were small shops with tiny doors. I expected to see a hobbit step out from one of the doorways at any moment. The view of the Mediterranean sea from the village was breathtaking,” said Brown.
After a fantastic day in Monaco, they drove to Nice, France, ate dinner, and traveled to their next hotel.
Wednesday, they all decided to explore downtown Nice. They spent most of the day in the Marché aux Fleurs: a flower market. As a group they visited a candy shop, Florian Confiserie, which is famous for their use of flower creations. Each of them had their fair share of samples, and a few of them purchased some of their own. Walking for miles, they went to all of the upscale stores they had only read about in magazines. It was a fun day of window shopping.
Most of Thursday was spent on the bus going to Barcelona, Spain. They slept on the bus when they were not watching Young Frankenstein. Once they arrived in Barcelona, they enjoyed the beautiful scenery just before eating dinner and going to their hotel. The girls were upset, however, to find out there was no WIFI or TV in their rooms. Since each of them was exhausted, it was not a problem for long.
Friday was spent in Barcelona walking around the Plaça Catalunya, the Square of Catalonia. One of their favorite new finds was Gelato, Italian ice cream.
Saturday was one of their favorite days. They went on a 3-hour bike ride down the beach in Barcelona. Although the water was freezing, they had a great time walking in the surf barefooted. Since it was their last night in Europe, Brown and the girls, and a group from Phoenix ate at a restaurant down a small side street and enjoyed tapas, seafood paella and crème brûlée for dessert. While there a Mariachi band came and sang to them. It was a perfect day for each of them.
The next morning they left for the airport at 5 a.m. They left Barcelona and flew to London. Their flight to Dallas was delayed four hours, so they made the best of the delay and shopped in the duty free shops inside the airport. They finally arrived in Dallas and decided to spend the night there. Monday morning, they got on a flight that brought them back to Mississippi.
“This was the trip of a lifetime. Travel is one of my favorite things in the world, but in the words of my favorite movie character, Dorothy Gale, ‘There’s no place like home,’ ” said Brown.