Europe Trip, Spring 2002

 
During the spring of 2002 several members from Concord's chapter of PBL took a trip to Europe.  All that went had a wonderful time and several stories to tell others when they returned.  Here are some of the pictures from their trip!

 

The PBL Spring 2002 Trip to Europe

The Club's members came to a decision in late November, 2001, to travel to Europe in the Spring semester, given their fund-raising successes and members' desires to increase their global understandings of travel, business, transportation, and lifestyles.  All members were invited to sign up for the trip, and when the final roll call was taken 6 members joined their sponsor and a friend for the trip. 

 

Those who traveled included:  PBL President Jill Wyant, Vice President Neal Patel, Treasurer Jason McDaniel, Shawna McCroskey, Prerna Kempka, and Anthony Harvey.

 

Planning and travel arrangements began after the holidays and the group boarded their flight from Raleigh, North Carolina, on a non-stop flight to England's Gatwick Airport at 6:45 p.m. on March 22, 2002.  It was an exciting time as well as an anxious time since not all the students were seasoned travelers and September 11th had left unsettling feelings about traveling for most Americans.  We arrived at Gatwick at 7:20 a.m., made our ways through customs, transferred to London and took our first London cab ride on our way to check into the Thistle Marble Arch Hotel, a terrific four star hotel that bustled with business travelers and tourists.

While we explored London, we saw Westminster Abbey, the London Tower, the changing of the Guard, the National Gallery, Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, and 10 Downing Street.  We learned to use the underground and saw plays in the Theatre District.  Piccadilly Circus and a trip on the world's largest ferris wheel where we all enjoyed exciting views of the city.  There were many other sites to see such as St. Paul's Cathedral and great shopping nearly everywhere, including Harrad's Department Store.

 

Several days in London ended with an interesting crossing of the English Channel by the Eurostar or Chunnel Train that took us underwater to surface at a gateway to the French countryside.  Two hours after leaving London, we arrived in Paris and took the French underground to Hotel Marignan, a hostel located on Rue de Sommerard, near Notre Dame Cathedral and the Sorbonne.

In Paris we visited so many historic sites including the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Montmarte to see Sacre Couer Basilica.  We also strolled the boulevards, the Place de la Concorde, through the Tuileries, and along the Champs Elysee.  We also visited the Pere Lachaise cemetery--so Jill could see Jim Morrison's final resting place.  A day at Versailles was well worth the trip.

 

We returned to London on the 29th of March and visited more "must see sites" for one day.  The last day was a free day that allowed everyone the opportunity to go their own ways, back to visit new found friends and sites that had become special.  There were reports of some extremely late nights out, parties, and interesting exchanges in local pubs, but those have been unconfirmed at this point.

We returned to Raleigh, NC, on March 31st and following a rain storm that slowed the re-entry process, we made the drive back to campus in the late night hours.  I think we're ready to go again.

 

                          

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