I came all the way to Edinburgh and all I got to see was this lousy cloned sheep

Had our first day of Modern Scotland class today with Ewan. It’s going to be a bit dry, but still interesting. And it’s cool to see all my new friends in a class environment for the first time. Ewan says contROversy and noMENclature. And shed-you-all for schedule. I love the accent.

It was Open Day at the University- finally other students are around! I’m definitely looking forward to meeting new people.

I finally got my pay-as-you-go phone. What a mess that was. Cheap, though.

For the afternoon, we met with Tom again. He gave us a tour around High Street and the Royal Mile. Edinburgh has a very strange history; buildings from different eras are all right next to each other, showing the clear changes throughout time since the medieval days. The streets used to be super narrow and unsanitary, and the rich and poor used to share dumpy buildings. But the Royal Mile has some beautiful buildings, too; St. Giles Cathedral is my favorite, with its intricate carvings and glowing stained glass. We also saw Greyfriars, home to Bobby, the famously loyal dog.

Edinburgh buildings from three different centuries

A true Scotsman!

The heroic John Knox's grave is now a "car park"... poor guy

Another true Scotsman... a creepy one.

High Street- aptly named

St. Giles Cathedral

Love the details... so pretty

Some famous building. Can't remember. Can you blame me?

Before dinner, Alex and I went into the free National Museum. There are a ton of exhibits that I eventually want to see, but for today we just checked out the Dolly the sheep! Big moment in the life of my Biologist friend.

Me playing the electric violin

An equally talented Alex playing her ancient piano

My favorite true Scotsman of the day- playing Scottish independence tunes

We have the whole evening free- let’s see what the fifteen of us college students end up doing with no agenda and no restrictions. We’ve been let loose in Edinburgh, Scotland! At least I have a phone number now, so we can track each other down...