Hello again! Today I'm going to share a bit about my first month in Edinburgh. Hard to believe it's been over a month here, and that I'm exactly halfway through my lectures, but I guess time flies when you're having fun.
Edinburgh's been a great city so far. As the capital of Scotland, there's a lot going on and a lot of cool people from all over! The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1582, is integrated into the city, with lecture halls and housing spread throughout. To illustrate, some of my classes are 2 miles apart, and my nearest class is a mile from my dorm.. Which means I get to walk a lot more than I did on my small, enclosed university campus in the states (Though I try to catch buses when possible!).
With 35,000 students, 15,000 of them from outside the UK, there are also a lot more strangers here at the University. But everybody's pretty nice! The Scotsmen, especially, are a friendly bunch. And they also fit nearly all of the stereotypes that I expected to be inaccurate. Men aren't ashamed of their kilts, haggis is served in every restaurant (and in every kind of dish), bagpipes can be heard from apartment windows, and the whisky flows like water.
I'l be frank on this one - I miss the sun. With clouds and rain being such common occurrences, I hardly get to see that great big ball in the sky anymore. Sometimes a whole week passes by without the sight of it.
Surprisingly, however, the weather isn't that cold. It likes to flirt with the freezing temperature, and some days can get miserable with the wind - sure. But considering my current latitude near the arctic circle, I can't complain. Apparently I have the ocean currents to thank for that relatively temperate climate!
Still, I can't escape some effects of being on top of the world. Because of its latitude, even when the city is blessed with a *partly* cloudy day, it doesn't last long. Days have been short. And they were shortest at the beginning of the term, when the sun would peek out after 9 and start disappearing around 3 - never getting more than 40 degrees or so above the horizon.
This has been tough as a San Diego native. But every day gets a little longer, I plan to travel to warmer places, and by the end of the semester, Edinburgh will have a nice late night sun!
Meanwhile the Scottish scenery has not disappointed. It's especially nice to have Holyrood Park as my backyard - a great old volcanic ridge and peak, jutting out right beside the city. Lots of history there too - just centuries ago, it's where Scottish kings and queens grew up, prayed and played! See some photos of it below (from two different walks).
All in all, I'm beginning to feel like a local in this place, and I'm quite alright with that. Thanks for checkin' back, I'll post more soon!
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| Edinburgh Castle on the left. |
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| We weren't the only ones with the idea of going up on a clear(ish) day. |
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| Oh hey, welcome to my city. |
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| Descending to the castle |
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