The Upper Hutt College 2024 Europe Tour was a once in a lifetime experience where 55 of our Year 12 & 13 students along with 5 teachers went for a three week tour around four different European countries. Seth Stoneham & Zoe Pepper look back on their epic adventure.

We were fortunate enough to spend five days in Rome, five days in Barcelona, five days in Paris and then a final three days in London. Along with three - four days worth of flights and train rides.

During our five days in Rome, excitement was in the air as the adventure had just begun. There was so much to see - the old Roman architecture such as the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain and even an entire day dedicated to visiting The Vatican, a small city state located in Rome, where the Pope resides.

Towards the end of our stay in Rome, we all travelled via train to the city of Firenze (Florence) and spent a whole day there exploring. There was also a competitive amazing race which required us to explore around looking for historical aspects of Florence. 

One evening in Rome we all wandered down to our pizza making class, where Italian chefs taught us how to properly make pizza dough and fed us some delicious cuisine.

Next we waved goodbye to our accommodation in Rome and set off on a two hour journey to Spain, where we landed in Barcelona. We had another five days worth of exploring around the city and all the beautiful sights, such as the Sagrada Familia Church, and Castell De Mountaq. We also spent a day in Girona which was exciting as there were a multiple of Game Of Thrones fans within our group. 

There were friendly rivalries occurring throughout our time in Spain. The Sun & Moon hostel where we were staying had a downstairs common room with a ping pong table. Therefore there were many ping pong tournaments between the students of UHC and a rival school from Finland who we met.

One day in Barcelona we thought we had an imposter. Turns out it was just a blonde Jonty Ms Van Maren.

One of my personal highlights from Barcelona was this burger joint across the street from where we were staying called La Burguesa which contained the most delicious burgers I have ever indulged in.

You can't go to Spain and not have a beach day, so Upper Hutt College students stormed the beaches of Barcelona and spent the afternoon lazing on the beach, playing volleyball with some Dutch guys, and swimming in the surprisingly cold water. It was a very fun day.

After our stay in Spain we yet again boarded our mighty flying vessel and travelled a few hours into France. The weather was drastically different, as in Spain we experienced a heatwave consisting of 30 degree weather almost everyday. 

In Paris however, when we first arrived it was raining and below 10 degrees. Unfortunately this caused a large portion of the group to become sick but that didn't reduce the fun one bit.

We were lucky to be staying at the Fiap Hotel, which is a fully contained hotel building with all the facilities you could dream of, including a youth room where there were evening football matches between the UHC Barcelona fans and the PSG Paris supporters.

Excitement was in the air as our first activity in Paris was a day trip to Disneyland, where we were split into groups and given free range of all the rides in the two parks, everyone had an awesome time and many of us came home with Disneyland merchandise.

Along with Disneyland, Paris was filled with activities, such as climbing the Eiffel Tower (there's an elevator), and visiting the Louvre museum and the Musee D'orsay, letting us indulge in some classical art. We even did a river cruise along the Seine and were able to get some wonderful views of the Eiffel Tower.

After the cold shock from Paris, we didn't think it would get colder but it did.

We took the Eurostar train from Paris to London which is a bullet train that travels underground at 250 kilometres an hour. The ride took about two hours but due to time differences we arrived in London an hour after we had departed.

Compared to the other locations, we only spent three days in London, to allow the students to burn through the rest of their money and enjoy some more time together before heading back home. 

Even then, we still managed to have days filled with activities. We visited the London Dungeon which is an interactive horror experience where they educate you on the horrible history of London. It was very interesting whilst also being terrifying. 

The drama students were very excited to see Sweeney Todd as it was the production they were performing later this year. We explored two main shopping streets in London, Oxford Street and the Camden street markets which were filled with souvenirs and presents for the parents back home and we were lucky enough to see an Arsenal Women’s football game at Emirates Stadium.

On our last day in London, we went to the Shakespeare Globe Theatre and attended an acting class where they got us to use Shakespearean insults on each other, before visiting the Borough markets for lunch and then beginning the long flights back to New Zealand.

Overall, the UHC 2024 Europe tour was a great experience and I sincerely hope everyone who was a part of it enjoyed it as much as we did. 

Thank you to all the teachers and parents who helped make this trip possible. I guarantee these memories will be something to remember.