Free fudge and freaky dolls

Started the day with a run with Alex, the first one since I got here. The cold air and wind made my lungs hurt a bit though... a bad sign. We'll see how it goes. I may resort to running inside for a few months. 

We had class again- a virtual tour around Scotland. It was really cool to learn how all the regions differ. Fun fact: Inver, Firth, and Aber all mean the same thing: the mouth of a river. Also, Ewan says "Not at all" instead of "No problem", "al-you-MIN-ee-um" for aluminum and "anti-clockwise" instead of counter-clockwise! I'm keeping a list. He said Arran Island is not too far from Edinburgh and makes an excellent weekend trip; hopefully I'll get to blog about my trip there in a few weeks!

After class, we had a picnic in the Meadows for lunch, but it was SOOOO windy! So we went inside the university library and finally read all of the brochures and travel pamphlets that we've been accumulating over the week. 

Our tour with Tom this afternoon took us past very old houses, very old graves, and very cool stores. I love this city, but there is a lot to absorb! We saw the new Parliament building, which has very cool architecture but looks entirely un-Scottish. It is, not surprisingly, very controversial.

We also passed the Castle that houses the Queen on her yearly visits to Edinburgh. Tom says that it's unimpressive, but I wouldn't mind a weekend there!

We checked out a shop that sells antique maps, and I loved perusing the old European impressions of the New World. We also stopped, as any college student would, at the two fudge shops that advertised free samples! They had crazy flavors like strawberry, pistachio, lemon, and chocolate coconut. We ended our exploration at the Museum of Childhood. Some of their exhibits were awesome- old toys, bikes, and games. But there is just something about a collection of old dolls behind glass cases that creeps me out...