Three of Switzerland's most famous peaks: the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau. Photos: Carl Lanzilli

A BC world tour

Carl Lanzilli ’66 has photographed his Boston College banner on Greek islands, in Scottish castles, and everywhere in between

Whether he’s touring the Amazon rainforest or looking up at Dracula’s castle, Carl Lanzilli ’66 has found a way to bring Boston College along for the adventure.

Before every flight, Lanzilli tucks a travel-size BC banner into his luggage, and then carries it with him for the duration of his trip. When he sees a good photo op—a crystal clear lake in Slovenia or an ancient Greek temple in Sicily, perhaps—he pulls it out. Over the past 15 years, the maroon and gold flag has made appearances in hundreds of snapshots, oftentimes held by locals who Lanzilli has met on his travels (so far, the only person who has refused to hold the banner was a guard at the Tower of London, who told Lanzilli “We’re not allowed to hold messages from anybody”).

Carl Lanzilli playing harmonica in front of Eqyptian pyramids

Carl Lanzilli playing harmonica on a trip to Eqypt.

Lanzilli, a Massachusetts native, caught the travel bug when the Army sent him to Vietnam in his 20s. After finishing law school, he spent several years backpacking through the Pacific Islands, sleeping on beaches in Hawaii and Tahiti, and working on a sheep ranch in New Zealand and in the Australian backcountry before coming home and starting his career as an attorney.

Years later, while on an African safari, Lanzilli noticed a fellow traveler incorporating the University of Maryland mascot, a terrapin, into her photographs, and it struck him as a creative way to honor one’s alma mater. He took his BC banner on his next trip to Venice, where he photographed it in the hands of a gondolier, and then to Paris, making sure to get shots in front of the Notre Dame cathedral and atop the Eiffel Tower. Since then, the banner has traveled to Iceland and Greenland, to the streets of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, and to the Colosseum in Rome. It’s accompanied Lanzilli, a talented harmonica player (“I think I’m the only one who can play ‘For Boston’”) to music festivals across the U.S., and will be the first thing he packs when he heads to Chile this fall.

“I just love BC,” he said. “I wouldn’t have wanted to go anywhere else.”