Student Bloggers

Hello readers! 

I’ve finally reached the point where I have to start acting like a real student here at Edinburgh (*sigh*). The past two weeks, I’ve been cranking out essays, reading articles, and highlighting my notes like crazy. It finally hit me that my classes are going to be over in only 4 more weeks, and that my study skills have not been up to par this semester. 

So, with all of the studying in the past few weeks, I haven’t been able to explore as much as usual. However, I still made time for a few days of excitement, which I’ll share below. 

Last Tuesday, my friend Sarah celebrated her 21^st birthday, which is somewhat anticlimactic when you’re living in a country where 18 is the big birthday. So, instead of the customary pub-crawl, we decided to do a food crawl through Edinburgh. We mapped out an itinerary of sorts with all of the restaurants we’d been dying to try (thank you, Edible Edinburgh), and woke up bright and early for a delicious brunch at Urban Angel in New Town. Over the course of 7 hours, we managed to hit 7 different restaurants, where we ordered several dishes to share. One of the highlights for me was Tigerlily, where we got afternoon tea. The restaurant itself is beautifully decorated, and we ordered chocolate fondue and some of the best carrot cake I’ve ever had to accompany our tea. It was truly a day of gorging ourselves on the best that Edinburgh has to offer. 

Last week, I also visited the Scottish Borders with Arcadia. I wasn’t sure exactly what this trip entailed when I originally signed up, but I’m so glad that I was able to go. The borders are a region bordering Edinburgh and Southern Scotland. Our first stop on the trip was Traquair House, which is the oldest continuously inhabited house in Scotland, dating back to 1107! It housed a lot of famous Scottish figures, including Mary Queen of Scots and Bonnie Prince Charlie. Next on the trip was Melrose Abbey, a ruined monastery in the quaint town of Melrose. Melrose Abbey was absolutely magnificent, and surprisingly well preserved. Our last stop was Rosslyn Chapel, a 15^th century chapel just outside of Edinburgh. To many people today, it’s probably best known as being featured in “The da Vinci Code” as the site where the Holy Grail is hidden. The chapel itself is stunning, and the mysterious history of it just made our tour even more interesting.

Tomorrow, I leave for a trip to the University’s Outdoor Center for a weekend of hiking, biking and canoeing. Until the next post… cheers!