PRAGUE, Czech Republic >> Souvenirs come in many forms, some more easily packed than others.

Beyond the T-shirts and photos that were exchanged with Italian, Slovenian, Austrian and Czech teams, or the boxes of Kolonada cocoa cookies and kinder surprise chocolate eggs with toys inside that were stuffed into backpacks and luggage, Hawaii’s most valuable baggage didn’t put the Rainbow Wahine volleyball team over the weight limit.

Memories weigh nothing but forever will be carried in the minds and hearts of the players and coaches who flew out of Vaclov Havel Airport together Thursday morning but will be separated by day’s end when connecting with flights to Los Angeles, Seattle and Honolulu.

After 14 days, four countries, nine cities, six matches, five hotels and countless hours of bonding bus rides, it was hard to say “nashledanou” (goodbye).

Hawaii’s first training trip to Europe far exceeded expectations from the cultural to playing experience. Favorite cities and memories varied from player to player but, as it is said, the sum is greater than the parts.

Dr. Seuss’ book “Oh, The Places You’ll Go” has nothing on the places the Rainbow Wahine went the past two weeks.

There was Milan, the first taste of a foreign language, food and public transportation. It was there that Hawaii played the Italian national team, setter Kendra Koelsch’s favorite memory. It would be the only time she would play an entire set. She injured her hand on the first play of Set 4 against Slovenia.

There was Lake Como and an impromptu swim, one of the more memorable experiences for Megan Huff. It was there, Clare-Marie Anderson said, she enjoyed exploring the town with her teammates and learning the history.

There was Verona and the challenge to find Casa di Giulietta with its famous balcony, the location of Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet” and a favored movie “Letters from Juliet.”

A number of Rainbow Wahine said Venice was their favorite city, a visit that included searching for San Marco Piazza after riding the train into the city.

“It was a journey but when we got there, it was unbelevable,” Tai Manu-Olevao said.

It was there that Emily Maglio and others checked off one bucket-list item: riding in a gondola.

“Spending the day with the team in Venice is my favorite memory,” Ginger Long said. “Getting to ride the water taxi and the gondola.”

There was plenty of walking through centuries-old towns besides those in Italy, such as Maribor, Slovenia; Vienna, Austria; and Prague, where the trek up to Prague Castle and seeing the changing of the guard was worth managing the cobblestone paths.

“It was really nice to see the different cultures, cultures I’m not used to,” Nikki Taylor said. “I really enjoyed my time in Maribor and could see myself going back.”

There were unexpected adventures, such as getting lost after listening to a Mozart concert in Vienna and trying street food such as kebob, falafel and spicy Asian noodles.

“I really liked trying new things to eat from the different places we went,” Kalei Greeley said.

Added Manu-Olevao: “Every day I’ve tried to have at least one gelato.”

And, of course, there were the friendlies, which was the best part of the trip, according to setter Tayler Higgins.

“I just like playing,” said Higgins, who was on the floor for all but one set as Hawaii went 4-2.

The Rainbow Wahine fell to the veteran Italian and Slovenia squads with professional national-team-caliber players, and beat two Slovenian, one Austrian and one Czech team, all with quality but lower-division players. Adolpho and Long got a taste of playing on a foreign squad when they joined the Slovenian junior team while in Maribor.

“You could see the growth,” assistant coach Jeff Hall said. “We got better every match. It was more about the synergy. It wasn’t that our skills got better but that we played better as a team. We worked through some adversity, got better at certain things, such as stopping scoring runs earlier.

“The best part of it, and Dave (head coach Shoji) said the same thing, we got better each time we played, which is awesome. We played our best volleyball at the end.”

And that means ciao … nasvidenje … auf wiedersehen … nashledanou … aloha officially until fall camp starts in August.

NOTE: The Rainbow Wahine who live in Hawaii were expected to arrive in Honolulu Thursday night after a 24-hour travel day.