It was 1987 and I had to go to Scotland to present a paper at the International Conference on Technology and Education.

I decided that this was the best opportunity to take my parents to Europe. It had been in my plans for a while and, if I took my vacation days after the conference, that would be a good opportunity to take them for an “ancestor’s trip”. At the same time, we could visit some friends in different countries.

So, we stayed in London for one night in a Hotel near Hyde Park. We arrived around 6 a.m. and mother was very tired. Since the rooms were not ready, we had to wait on a bench at the park. My mother went to sleep while my dad and I had a good time looking and hearing the wonderful birds.

We rested a little that night and the next day we took the train to Edinburg. There we stayed at a bed and breakfast, near the university, owned by an Italian with an English wife. They had a daughter who was a jockey at the horse races. Each night when we were back from the conference or checking the city, we found a bottle of red wine waiting for us right next to the fireplace. The breakfasts were fabulous, and, at the gala dinner night of the conference, we had the famous haggis. Father, mother and I were the only ones who ate the haggis at our table.

When doing the Royal Mile that runs between the Edinburgh Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse, and, especially when going up the steps, my mother repeated: “I’m only doing this for you, Grandmother!” Mother said that only in honor of her grandmother Albina Moss Douglas, who was Scottish, was she doing this tour in Scotland. It was so cold in March that we visited many pubs on the Royal Mile with the excuse of “warming up from the inside”.

After the conference I rented a car. I was not used to driving sitting in the right seat but, with a little bit of practice, I was able to handle the manual gear shifting with my left arm. We went around Scotland a bit, visited a friend and his family at St. Andrews, drove to Glasgow and stayed in a nice hotel in Melrose where we saw the Tartan Lochcarron at the Scotland Visitor Centre, at Selkirk. There we bought some souvenirs with the Douglas Clan tartan.

It was interesting to find out that Scottish did not have any problem understanding my Chilean accent, rolling “r’s” and all.

From Edinburgh we returned to London by train and went back to the hotel near Hyde Park. We visited all the famous places we could, using the underground train, the Tube–London Bridge, Tower of London and the Crown Jewels, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, St. Paul’s Cathedral. We spent three days at the British Museum and London History Museum. We went to see Berwick Street Market in Soho, and went to Harrod’s for tea, etc.

Then we headed for Dover where, before taking the ferry to Ostend in Belgium, we visited the Roman Painted House. Once in Belgium we took the train to Bruges where we visited all the places my Belgium paternal grandfather had told us about–like the canals, where we took tours on boats. We walked on the cobbled streets and visited the medieval buildings around the Burg square. We also saw the 14th-century Stadhuis (City Hall) and its ornate carved ceiling. Then the Markt square with its 13th-century belfry that has a 47-bell carillon and huge tower with panoramic views. The day we visited the Markt square was a Sunday, and we saw a bird market there with birds from all over the world. We also had the opportunity to visit the Beguinage where the pious sisters of my grandfather spent most of their lives waiting for a gentleman to offer them marriage.

We continued to Brussels where, after visiting the magnificent Grand-Place/Grote Markt, my father, who had been in Europe before, enjoyed showing us the statue of Manneken Pis, a naked little boy peeing, who was not wearing a miniature uniform. He is usually decently dressed by the “Friends of the Order of Manneken-Pis” in different costumes several times a week. The tradition of dressing the statue dates back at least to the 17th century.

The Grand-Place is encircled by the Baroque guildhalls of the former Guilds of Brussels. Also at the Place are two larger edifices, the city’s amazing Town Hall and the King’s House or Bread House building (neo-gothic architecture) with the Brussels City Museum.

Near the Place we had the best “gaufres” (Belgian waffles) I have ever tried. My parents also enjoyed the great variety of beers in Belgium, and mother and I almost made ourselves sick trying chocolates at the best “chocolatiers” in the world–the Galeries Royales Saint Hubert, where most of the famous Belgian chocolate brands are based.

From Brussels we continued our trip by train to Paris where my cousins were waiting for us and took us to their apartment at Saint-Germain-des-Prés. We spent several days with them, during which they took us to see their favorite places in Paris. Since my cousin is a sculptor, her favorites places were museums. We spent at least two days at the Louvre, but also visited Musée d’Orsay, Musée de l’Orangerie, Musée Rodin and Petit Palais. We went to Montmartre artistic district and spent hours at the Basilica of Sacré Cœur. We went to Prinntemps where we shopped for coats and bought perfumes at Galeries Lafayette.
During the weekend, we went to Marché Saint-Germain, a market where we appreciated the fresh and amazingly beautiful vegetables and fruits and especially the cheeses.

Our cousins took us to a restaurant near L’Opera where they serve only cheese. To our surprise a gentleman at a nearby table was accompanied by his dog. The dog was happily eating cheese from the plate the waiter brought him. We took my cousins for a dinner cruise at les Bateaux-Mouches at the Seine River. It was very expensive!

Of course, we also went to Notre Dame Cathedral, la Tour Eiffel, and Centre Pompidou. We did several circles around the Arc the Triomphe and went to the Palace of Versailles. On the trip to the Palace, my cousin showed us one of her sculptures at an architectural development in Versailles.

We continued our trip by the fast train (TGV) to Geneve in Switzerland. That took only 3 hours and 11 minutes instead of 6 to 7 hours by car. There we stayed at the Hotel du Rhône, owned by the father of the husband of a musician friend from Chile who went to Switzerland to study opera. It was the most exclusive hotel in Geneve at that time. We had a great visit there, but we only stayed two nights before continuing our trip to the south of France. In Geneve we went to see the famous Jet d’Eau fountain, L’Horloge Fleurie, famous flower clock at the Jardin Anglais, and the Reformation Wall. We also went for dinner to have fondue and raclette at Restaurant Les Armures.

Then we took the train to Lyon and continued to Toulouse to end up at Lourdes. We visited the sanctuary and then we continued to Pau, where my father’s ancestors were from. Our goal was to go to the Mairie, or Hotel de Ville de Pau, to find out about the Beltran family.

According to their records, there were four families in Pau–two with the last name of Beltrán, and two with the last name Bertrand. There was no clear information as to which family we belonged to. The record keeper told us interesting stories about those families, but nothing was very concrete. After this, we returned to Paris and then back to USA.

We did the ancestry tour, and my parents, tired but grateful, were very happy with all the cities and people we visited. My father was 84 and my mother was 78 years old during that trip.