This summer, 93 students, faculty, alumni and community members travelled through four European countries to explore and learn about cultures outside America through the Nicholls Europe Program. After leaving New Orleans by plane, the participants arrived in Rome, Italy, where they stayed only three blocks from the Vatican. “The students were able to see the Pope the first night we arrived,” Jim Barnidge, director of the Nicholls Europe Program, said. “It was a treat for many of them.”
While in Italy, the group travelled through Rome, Florence, Tuscany, Venice and Verona, and saw sights such as the Colosseum, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Many of them went on gondola rides in Verona.
After a short three-day stay in Rome, the participants travelled in air-conditioned motor coaches through the rest of Europe. They traveled to the Swiss Alps, Alsace, France and Frankfurt, Germany. The entire trip lasted 16 days, from June 2-17.
Students also had the option to take the trip for credit by taking a test based on lectures given by Barnidge throughout the trip and by writing a paper on a subject that interested them about the places they visited.
Michael Bacon, pre-med senior from Lockport, took the trip for six hours of credit in history and humanities. He chose to write his paper on the history of Venice, Italy. However, Bacon didn’t just go for schoolwork. While the group was in Rome, Bacon took his girlfriend to the Trevi Fountain and proposed to her in front of a crowd of tourists. “It was a pretty typical thing,” Bacon said, “other than the fact that it was in Europe.”
The Trevi Fountain is a popular tourist spot in Italy, and there are many stories of the fountain granting wishes. In this case, it seems Bacon’s wish came true as his girlfriend said yes. “There was applause afterwards, when everyone figured out what I was doing,” Bacon said.
The Nicholls Europe Program will take place again next year in June. Barnidge said next year’s trip will likely include places such as Paris and the Burgundy region of France; Munich, Germany; Innsbruck, Austria; Venice and Verona, Italy; and Switzerland. The trip will cost $3,995, as it did this year.
“I had been saving for the trip since the year before,” Bacon said. “It’s not cheap when you think about it like that, but when you consider the places we went, and how nice the hotels we stayed in were, it’s worth it.”
Bacon also said he would recommend the trip to anyone. “Now that I’ve gone there with Nicholls, I would feel confident going there on my own.”
The trip is open to anyone from Nicholls or the surrounding community who would like to go. Anyone interested in the trip can contact Jim Barnidge in 238 Peltier Hall for more information.
