Visiting Europe
By Quincy Harding
I can’t remember another time I was as excited to get on a plane. We were going to Europe for my grandparents' 50th anniversary, and that was probably the best vacation of my life. It was the summer of 2019, and I had just finished fifth grade. My cousins, aunt and uncle, grandparents, brother and sister, mom and dad, and I were all going. It was going to be such a special trip because I would get to learn so much about my family’s history and culture.
The idea of going came to fruition about a year before we went. When I was told about it, the conversation went something like this:
“Quincy, how would you like to visit Scotland and the castle?” my grandpa asked me this while we were sitting in the family room at his house. It was about a year before we actually went on the trip.
“Wait, really?”
“Yes, we have decided to go back and visit for our 50th wedding anniversary,” my grandpa replied. “We are going to go in June of next year!”
Then what ensued was the planning. From the beginning we had a spreadsheet of things we wanted to do while we were there. In England, some of the things that we wanted to do were visiting Big Ben, going to Chelsea stadium and going to Hyde Park. In the end, we accomplished all three!
We started out in London. The sky was mostly grey and rainy, and it was cold for the middle of summer. Visiting the Harry Potter studios was my favorite thing we did while there. Harry Potter was one of my favorite book series growing up, and it was an amazing experience. We got to take pictures with a cutout of the Dursley family, go inside number 4 Privet Drive, and drink butterbeer. It was also really cool to show my cousins, who had not read the books yet, what an incredible book series Harry Potter was. We basically did an entire Harry Potter tour all over Europe. In Edinburgh, we went to the Elephant House cafe, which is where JK Rowling got the idea to write the books. We also went to Victoria’s Street in Edinburgh, which some say inspired Diagon Alley. In Portugal, we went to this bookstore, where Rowling spent most of her time writing the series. As someone who has loved the Wizarding World for a really long time, it was very special to see it all come to life.
From London we went to Edinburgh, where we had a fancy dinner to celebrate my grandparents’ anniversary. It was really special to see all of the family that they created at one table, and they really enjoyed the restaurant. One morning, my dad and I got up really early and went to explore Edinburgh. We walked all over and visited the Princes Street Gardens. The thing that really fascinated me about Edinburgh was its history. There is this place called the Grassmarket, and that’s where all of the public executions happened. The pubs along that street all have names like The Last Drop, which is a macabre reference to the last deaths that occurred there.
Next was the most important part of the trip to me. I am half Scottish and one of the reasons we were going to Europe was to visit our family’s/clan’s castle, Duart Castle. My grandpa was descended from the Clan Mclean which is one of the oldest clans in the highlands. Duart Castle is on the Isle of Mull, a small island part of the Inner Hebrides. You have to take a ferry to get to Mull; the scenery is beautiful and the wind in your hair feels amazing. When you are nearing the island you can see the castle from a distance. It is on top of a lush, green hill with an old cannon on it. Then you drive through a field of cows to get to the Castle. There is this book at the castle which all visiting descendants get to sign. In 1964, my grandfather visited the castle as per his mother’s request, because he was going off to fight in the Vietnam war. When we went to the castle, we got to sign the book too. Sir Lachlan Mclean, the clan leader, brought out the book from 1964 and we got to see it, it was a really full circle moment. It was emotional because when he signed the book for the first time, my grandfather didn’t know if he would ever come back, but he fought two tours and survived.
In France, we explored all over Paris with my cousins Lauren and Jane. We got to see the Eiffel tower and the Mona Lisa. It was really incredible to see the Eiffel tower at night. The tower flashes lights, and it makes you appreciate the architecture and the design that goes into building a huge structure like that. We also went to Lyon to see the Women's World Cup. The game we went to was England vs. USA. The USA won 1 - 2, and it was so much fun to see them play!
Portugal was the next stop, and I definitely wasn’t expecting to love being there as much as I did. We went to Braga first; Braga is a city in the north, about three and a half hours from Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. Braga is known for having a huge church that has 577 steps leading up to it. Luckily, we didn’t have to climb those! Behind the church, Bom Jesus do Monte, there is a gravity hill, which we got to try out. Gravity hills are where a slight downhill slope appears to be an uphill slope due to the layout of the surrounding land, creating the optical illusion that water flows uphill or that a car left out of gear will roll uphill. It was really amazing to my 10 year old mind, and my sister and I were convinced it was magic. I also tried francesinha for the first time, which is a Portuguese sandwich originally from Porto, made with bread, steak or roast meat, and covered with melted cheese and a hot and thick spiced tomato and beer sauce. It is typically served with french fries. It was disgusting, and even though my dad loves it, I don’t recommend it.
We also went to Porto, which is the second-largest city in Portugal. It is on this stunning river called The Douro. The Douro goes through both Spain and Portugal, but it is called the Duero in Spain. In Porto I got to learn a lot about traditional Portuguese crafts like carving corks and Azulejo tiles. I also learned about how to say thanks in Portuguese, “Obrigado,” (or Obrigada for women)
Going to Europe meant a lot to me because it allowed me to have a greater understanding of not only my culture and history but of other places too. It was meaningful for my grandparents to show my cousins, siblings, and I where we come from. Overall, I really enjoyed visiting the castle and all of the other beautiful places!
