McQuaid Students Visit Europe

A+view+of+Budapest%2C+Hungary.+The+first+of+four+stops+on+the+2018+McQuaid+Jesuit+Europe+Trip.%0A

Zach Pettrone, '19

A view of Budapest, Hungary. The first of four stops on the 2018 McQuaid Jesuit Europe Trip.

On June 19, 30 students left Rochester bound for Budapest, Hungary–one of four destinations on the 2018 McQuaid Jesuit Europe trip.  It was an opportunity to experience the cultures and customs of a whole different continent.

    It took over 24 hours to get there, but after all the mundane travelling, all students and faculty touched down in Budapest in good spirits.

    The vast majority of students on the trip had never stepped foot on another continent before, and they finally had the opportunity to do so with this trip.

    Two whole days were spent in each country, and a third day was used to travel to the next country. As opposed to many guided trips, the pacing was quite manageable, and students were left with plenty of time for themselves.

    “I think the pacing of the trips is good,” said math teacher Mr. Dan Brady. “With a fast-paced trip you can’t take in and enjoy what you’ve seen.”

    The trip itself had been organized years before by the chaperones, while on a previous excursion. In fact, plans for the next two Europe trips are being planned currently.

    Chaperones for the trip included music teacher Mr. Kevin Karnisky, former history teacher Mr. Chris Mulroy, English teacher Mr. Jeff Suida, Mr. Brady, and art teacher Mr. Tom Galambos.

    The first country visited was Hungary, which included some of the best sights and views the trip offered. At the end of the first night, students boarded a boat and rode it down the Danube River cutting through Budapest and observed the countryside as well as some of the sights in the city. It was the southernmost country visited, and as a result, lead to some hot bus rides.

    Next, after a short bus ride, students arrived in Vienna, Austria. Vienna is known as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and it lived up to that expectation. The best food on the trip was likely in Austria. They had the opportunity to visit the old capitol building in Vienna and could walk around the garden surrounding it.

    The third stop of the trip took us to Prague, Czech Republic. We had the opportunity to take a city walk around the entire city of Prague, which ended with a terrific view of the city. Groups had the opportunity to rent paddle boats and float down the Vltava River for an hour.

    While passing across Germany, students had the opportunity to visit Dachau, a concentration camp used during the Holocaust. This brief stop allowed them to walk through the barracks and courtyard of Dachau. It opened the students’ eyes to the horrors that really took place during WWII. 

    In the last stop, Munich, Germany, they had more free time and more opportunities to walk around the city and take in the views. They also visited the BMW factory, where they could drive the cars in simulators, and could even get inside certain cars in the factory.

To wrap up the trip, the group took a 30-minute hike up a mountain in south Germany, and at the peak was a castle, hundreds of years old. Students took a guided tour of the castle and, after that, hiked all the way back down the mountain.

    The trip opened the students’ eyes to the different cultures and customs that are native to the countries visited.

“I knew life in Europe would be different from life in Rochester, but I didn’t know how big a difference there would be,” said senior Michael Chiariello. “The food to the architecture was much more different than I expected.”