By Ula Ilmytzky
When my husband and I began planning an ambitious trip to five European countries, friends encouraged us to go without our teenage daughters.
"Leave them home!" they exhorted. "You deserve it." "They'll be fine."
We never considered that option. We've taken at least one family vacation a year since the girls were born. With our older daughter off to college this year, our time as a foursome was running out.
We tried to involve the girls in planning the trip. But that was about as easy as getting them to stop instant-messaging while doing homework.
We left tourist books around the house and discussed the trip during dinner. And although they expressed interest - even excitement - about going, it was impossible to get them to participate in the planning.
So my husband and I spent countless hours on the Internet, researching precise routes, daily itineraries, cultural and historic sights - both must-see and off-the-beaten track - as well as lodging, car rentals and airfare.
We ended up with an 18-day journey, starting with six days in Paris, then a taste of the Loire Valley with its magnificent chateau region, and a slice of Alsace-Lorraine. Our itinerary also included the Bodensee district of Bavaria; Vienna and Salzburg in Austria; and Prague, in the Czech Republic.
Of course we planned with an eye toward what would appeal to our 17- and 13-year-olds. But we were pleasantly surprised to learn, once we got there, that our interests were not that different, provided two ingredients were in the mix: shopping and eating.
Certainly our girls were old enough to appreciate museums and cultural sights. They even asked to see some not on our list. But we were more surprised by their interest in Europe's culinary scene.
In fact, finding the perfect place for dinner became an enjoyable daily ritual for us. We did consult our guide books for recommendations, but it was more fun to pick our own from menus posted outside the endless restaurants.
We should have been less surprised by their desire to shop. After all, what teenage girls wouldn't, especially in Paris?
Although they gawked at Paris's Galeries Lafayette and Samaritaine, whose opulent interiors are more opera house than department store, it was in the 200-odd boutiques of Paris' ultramodern Forum Des Halles that they made most of their purchases.
Accommodations presented our biggest challenge. Often we thought we had found The
place over the Internet only to be tempted by inviting images on yet another website.
As a family of four, we quickly discovered that renting a furnished apartment - for stays as short as three days and starting midweek - was a sensible and money-saving alternative to a hotel.
Our apartment in Paris was just a block from the Pompidou Centre, and gave us a chance to eat like Parisians - by looting the local patisserie and boulangerie for breakfast back at the flat, and even making dinner at "home".
Other money-saving options included booking an occasional quadruple - a large family room - and staying at guest houses or pensions. But online photos can distort both the size and condition of a room.
And although we never found out accommodations to be unacceptable, in a few cases they were not as polished as their web images. Our teens also made us aware of another important ingredient for a successful family trip: the need for down time.
In Paris, we walked our feet off trying to see every last church, museum and park. By contrast, a trip we took last year to Italy was more relaxing.
Our week in the Tuscan hills outside Pienza - sandwiched between Florence and Venice - allowed for both short day trips (to Assisi and San Gimignano) and lazy days by the pool. After this year's more hectic vacation, our daughters strongly endorsed at least a few slower-paced days on future trips.
But despite our packed itinerary, they gave high marks to the sights we picked. In Vienna and Prague, we focused on seeing as much Art Nouveau art and architecture as possible.
In Vienna, our must-sees included the vast Belvedere castle museum for works by Schiele, Kokoschka and Klimt. In Prague, the opulent Obecni Dum (Municipal House) left the girls in awe, especially the Alfonse Mucha-designed mayor's room, resplendent in the motifs of Art Nouveau.
It had our older daughter exclaiming: "I never want to leave this room."
In Vienna, they were introduced for the first time to the Austrian artist Gustav Klimt and his exquisite mosaic-like paintings of intertwined figures. To say they were enamoured of both early 20th-century artists would be an understatement.
Another thrilling surprise was Salzburg's Hellbrunn castle, where a 400-year-old trick water garden has unsuspecting visitors squealing in delight. The pavilion featured in the 1965 film, The Sound of Music, is also found on the estate grounds.
In Paris, the girls loved the Louvre and stood a full 15 minutes in front of the Mona Lisa. The Musee D'Orsay's collection of Impressionist art was an even bigger hit.
They were also fascinated with Paris' Rodin and Dali museums. In fact, they loved Dali so much that when we found another museum dedicated to the Spanish artist in Vienna, they insisted on seeing it too.
But our daughters wouldn't for the world have passed up some of the more touristy destinations: Monet's gardens at Giverny (a definite A+); climbing the Eiffel Tower; Notre Dame and Chartres cathedrals; Vienna's sumptuous 1856 Cafe Central coffeehouse; the jewellery vendors on the Charles Bridge in Prague; a pricey gondola ride in Venice (A+); and the leaning Tower of Pisa.
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- This article was originally published on page 21 of The Star on November 13, 2004