Brian and Devri: Our Own Eden: Our Epic 2025 Europe Trip--Short Summary

Sunday, July 20, 2025

Our Epic 2025 Europe Trip--Short Summary

On May 22, we took the kids on their very first international flight to Amsterdam, and officially kicked off an epic European adventure that we'd been planning for about 2 years. On June 29, we flew home from the London Heathrow Airport. Both flights were direct. We kept a record of our travels that we'll be sharing on our blog (since this is our family journal), but for those who only want highlights, this is the post for you. Here's our trip by the numbers:

39 days

5 people

3 time zones

2 Continents

13 countries

3 stamps in our passports

10,382.22 average daily steps

4.165 average miles walked per day

4106 pictures---630 more pictures taken by Michael (for reference, that’s more than he took in the 7 months previous, and far more than the 10 pictures he took on our last family trip)

5 airplanes

2 ferries

33 trains

33 taxi/uber rides

2 rides from family/friends

14 bus rides

2 ocean cruises

1 river dinner cruise

1 cancelled train

13 Airbnbs/hotels/cruise cabins

18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites

4 private tours

17 guided tours

1 Blacksmith class

12 museums

1 Chunnel crossing

9 cathedrals

2 cathedral domes climbed

2 mosques

2 Sacrament meetings attended

1 Blarney stone kissed

9 hats purchased

4 sweatshirts purchased

1 t-shirt purchased

2 Tubes of toothpaste used

1.5 bottles of sunscreen used

4 items lost and never recovered

5 colds caught (1 that led to a sinus and ear infection)

4 nights that someone threw up

3 days that laundry almost broke us

1 person stranded without toilet paper in a public bathroom (number of times that said person checked before going in another bathroom: every time)

Countless: Number of croissants consumed

Here's a map of our journey. Please note that the light blue lines represent our cruises, and we did not take a ship over land. The app that Brian used to make this map didn't have a cruising option.

My mom was with us from the Salt Lake Airport (May 22) until June 8, which was a ton of fun. This was her first trip to Europe, and we tried to pack as many things into her trip as we could, and we sent her home completely worn out, especially her feet. Here are some of the things we got to see with her:

The Anne Frank House, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

The Palace of Versailles, France

The Louvre Museum, Paris, France

When we got to Rome, Italy, we met up with Nana and Papa, as well as Lara and Greg. A Mediterranean Cruise brought us all on this journey together. Our cruise was bookended by sightseeing in Rome. Here's some things we got to see with everyone (or at least with Nana, Papa, and Grandma).

Trevi Fountain, Rome, Italy

Vatican City (from the top of St. Peter's Basilica)

St. Mark's Basilica, Venice, Italy

Gondola Ride, Venice, Italy

Olympia, Greece

National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece

The Acropolis (home of the Parthenon), Athens, Greece

The Library of Celsus, Ephesus, Turkey

Glyfada Beach, Corfu, Greece

Pompeii Archaeological Site, Italy

The Colosseum, Rome, Italy

The Pantheon, Rome, Italy

After our second stay in Rome, we said goodbye to Nana, Papa, Grandma, Lara, and Greg, and headed out with just the five of us. By this point, it was June 8.