Photos captured by students Charles Ruiz '27, Garrett Nugent '27, Maxwell Gaudet '26, and Ramon Ramos '25
Several Brother Martin Crusaders recently returned from our Europe trip, where they able to explore cultures, customs, food, and architecture different from their own. This is an incredibly special trip meant to broaden the perspectives of our Crusaders as they are immersed in historic places they have only ever read about. Carson Landry ’25, Carson Terminie ’25, Roman Barran ’27, and Ryan Royer ‘27 shared parts of what they experienced on the Europe trip.
"The Brother Martin Europe Trip offered me an opportunity to explore a wide variety of cultures, landscapes, and experiences as we traveled along the Mediterranean Sea. We visited many landmarks, starting in Barcelona, where we attended Mass in the Sagrada Familia, a breathtaking Basilica which stood out to me because it has been under construction for over a hundred years. It was the first of many churches we would visit throughout the trip. Almost every city we visited included a massive Church displaying the city's architecture, wealth, and culture.
One major aspect of every city was the sheer age of everything. As you would walk through any regular street, there would be houses and buildings that predate the entire United States. It deepens your appreciation for history and gives you a view of the past as you walk by old government buildings, aqueducts, artifacts, and ruins. The epitome of this was in Rome, where pieces of the Roman Empire remain, such as the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, the Pantheon, and the Vatican. The Vatican contained a massive art collection, including thousands of statues, tapestries, paintings, and maps from around the world.
Art was a major aspect of the Europe Trip, as it was found in every church and museum we visited. One such museum was the Galleria dell'Accademia di Firenze, or "Gallery of the Academy of Florence," which contained Michelangelo's David. Florence was my favorite location that we visited. The food was delicious, the cathedral was stunning, and the history was interesting. We were allowed a lot of free time there, where I was allowed to naturally explore the city.
Most importantly, visiting Europe with Brother Martin allowed me to travel and explore with my friends. It grew our bonds and created new connections with other students I would have never been able to meet. I am extremely grateful to have gone on this trip, and I could not recommend it enough to others."
"Overall, the Europe Trip was great. I got to try a lot of new things, and I got to really see what other cultures are like. My favorite place that we visited on the trip was probably Nice, France, and Rome would be a close second. Nice stood out to me because of how colorful and different it was compared to all of the other cities we went to. You could look to your left and see the Mediterranean Sea, and then you could turn to your right and see giant snowy mountains. The beach was also unlike anything I've ever seen. It wasn't a normal sunny beach, but it was instead made up of grey pebbles.
I enjoyed visiting Rome because I got to see all sorts of famous landmarks. We went to the Vatican, Colosseum, Trevy Fountain, and Pantheon. The food there was also probably some of the best on the trip. My favorite thing I saw would have to be the Colosseum. To me, it was the most interesting thing on the trip. On the plane ride back, I watched Gladiator for the first time, which made going to the Colosseum even cooler.
My favorite thing I ate was probably the escargot I got in France. It wasn't the best tasting, but I liked it the most because it was unlike anything I'd ever eaten before. In terms of new things, I learned a lot of random things. The most surprising thing I learned was that all the statues in Rome were painted at one point. I always thought they were just marble, but originally they were painted to look like real people."
"Florence, Italy, was my favorite place because of its architectural style, incredible buildings, and amazing atmosphere. When we were walking through the city, it felt like we were walking through time because of the old-style buildings, cathedrals, and historic streets. Every time we would turn onto a new street, there would be a super tasty cafe, or even a beautiful monument.
When we were in France, Carcassonne was my least favorite. The fortress was cool to visit, but there wasn’t much to do. It felt too quiet, and after walking around for 30 minutes, I felt like I had seen everything. It didn’t have the same energy or the same excitement as other places I’ve visited. Overall, this was a great trip that I'll never forget."
"During the Mardi Gras/Spring break, some students, including myself, went on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Europe. Around 11:00 a.m., everyone arrived at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. We went on our flight to Philadelphia, which took around five to six hours. We arrived in Philadelphia and stayed at the airport, not even thirty minutes before we had to take our next flight to Barcelona, Spain. The flight was over thirteen hours long, but we had movies to keep us entertained. When the flight ended, it was 8:00 a.m. in Spain. Back home, it was around 10:00 p.m.
We took a bus to the other side of the airport, where we had to show our passports to get into the country. After everyone was finally accepted into the country, we met up with our tour guide, Jerard. Jerard took us on a bus to the hotel we would be staying at for the next two days.
The first stop we went to was a food market. When we went to the market, I bought some boiled shrimp with anchovies on them, which did not taste good, and some cherries, which did taste good. After that, we went around town looking at the stores and a huge cathedral. We went to dinner, where we had jambalaya. Then, we went back to the hotel and went to bed.
The next day, we went around and explored more of the city. We also went to the second-largest cathedral in Barcelona. It was wonderful. But everyone had jetlag, so it was hard to stay up. We took the metro to get there and back to the hotel. We went to dinner before we went to the cathedral. There, we had chicken with mustard and garlic sauce with veggie rice.
The next day, we left Spain and went to France. It took us around four hours to get to Nice. When we got there, we went straight to the hotel before exploring France and getting dinner. At dinner, we ate delicious pork chops. In Nice, we saw the cathedrals, famous pieces of art, and restaurants.
When we went to Italy, we visited the Colosseum, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and the Vatican. At the Vatican, we saw a lot of priceless works of art. We also went to the ruins of ancient Rome. We were able to see all of the old structures and what was left of the rubble. We stayed an extra day because our flight was delayed, but we still had a good time. When we went to the airport and came home, I knew that this trip was a trip I would always remember."
