Destination Europe

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Paris.

Switzerland.

Munich.

Venice.

Nice.

Monocco.

Barcelona.

They are the places we all dream about seeing sometime in our lives.

Beth Collins and daughter Kelsey Wanack of Du Quoin experienced them all-- in four weeks.

It was the ultimate trip. It was the trip of a lifetime.

The two left Du Quoin June 9 and returned on the 4th of July.

They saw dozens of cities, towns and villas in five countries.

Some of the things they did included paragliding and white water rafting in the Swiss Alps.

They saw the Eiffel Tower in Paris, took a gondola ride in Venice and saw the Colosseum and the Pope at the Vatican in Rome.

They walked the starting point for the annual Tour de France and went on a bike tour and Dachau tour of Germany.

Kelsey said her favorite things were meeting many new friends from all over the world and eating "gelato," similar to American ice cream.

"We had been to Germany, Austria and Poland two years ago," said Beth. "Kelsey wanted to see more so that's why we did this. She wants to go back on her own next year. I hope she can."

Beth said a company called Bus About made the arrangements. The excursion began in Paris and ended in Barcelona, Spain.

"You don't stay in hotels," she said. "The bus drops you off at 'hostels' (hosts) and you can stay there one day or two days--whatever you want--then the bus comes by and picks you back up and takes you to the next place."

"We had three places where we were by ourselves. Other places had bunks like for eight people and that's where Kelsey met a lot of her friends," said Beth.

"A lot of them were 19 and 20," said Beth.

"She has talked to a couple of them since we got back," she said.

The trip two years ago was nine days. This time it was almost a month," she said.

The mother and daughter love backpacking, so this trip was a natural.

"I think we liked Italy the best. The food was great and the people were so friendly," said Beth.

"We started planning the trip in January," she said, and the memories will last a lifetime.