I was the unseen third wheel on Savannah Cody’s graduation trip to Europe with her Nanny, Terry Hill, but then no one ever knows I am along.

After arriving in Paris, Savannah and Terry began with a walking tour exploring all the old architecture around the city such as the Louvre Museum, viewing the famous Mona Lisa painting and then, seeing the Eiffel Tower at night.

They toured the Palace of Versailles located outside of Paris, home of King Louis XIV. This tour included getting to view the king’s own bedroom and suites, the apartment suites, ballrooms, and the private chapel built inside the palace.

Savannah said, “It was the coolest thing on the trip because of how old and exquisite it was! The palace had gold and marble and paintings head to toe in each room.”

Savannah loved Paris for the food, saying their pastries, crepes and chocolate did not disappoint. The very popular café called Carette is known for its hot chocolate and huge croissants. Savannah described both as a 10/10 with the hot chocolate being sweet, rich, tasty and better than any hot chocolate back at home.

Next stop on the trip took Savannah and Terry to Berlin, Germany. Describing Berlin as not as attractive as Paris with graffiti and artwork on most buildings, the walking tour allowed them to capture the some of the haunting history of the city. Touring Museum Island they saw where most of the old buildings are located that have either been rebuilt or were bombed in WWII.

The tour included many memorable pieces of history located in Berlin but history that changed the world. They saw “checkpoint Charlie” which used to be the checkpoint between East and West Berlin during the Cold War. Hitler’s bunker site and the Jewish Memorial for the six million Jewish lives lost during the Holocaust was an unforgettable experience.

Their tour guide was from Poland and the guide’s grandmother was Jewish, so real and unique details about this time period were shared.

Savannah and Terry said it is still noticeable even today what parts were East Berlin and what parts were West Berlin by the architecture and even the liveliness in the areas.

Potsdam is known for the Glienicke Bridge where spies from Russia and the US would cross over each side during the Cold War to exchange prisoners. The movie, Bridge of Spies is based on this time. They continued to tour the two palaces built for King Frederick of Prussia: The Neuse Palace and the Sanssouci Palace.

Going to Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, Savannah described it as a city like no other on this trip with canals and bridges throughout and the buildings dating back to the 15th/16th century. Despite its large size, she says the canal homes and brick roads give it a small town feel with bicycles as the main transportation. One of the tiny canal homes had a secret Catholic Church that could fit up to 200 people.

Windmills have been operating in the Netherlands since the 16th century which is the oldest in the world. One of the windmills they saw was used to make chocolate and Savannah could smell the cocoa from hundreds of feet away in the air.

The last day of this trip included a boat trip to the small island of Marken, Amsterdam, with its colored Dutch homes and a population of 450 including a shoe-making shop that makes wooden clogs like they have been made for centuries, and ending with a tour of Anne Frank’s home.

Savannah’s lasting impression of this special trip to three unique countries: “Paris was the most beautiful city we visited but also the most overwhelming and exceedingly crowded. Berlin was the most interesting and surprising because of the historical significance. Amsterdam was the most unique!”

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