Tea, Hiking, and Classes

So the past few days have continued to be exploration days. A number of the societies put on taster sessions which were great fun to attend. Highlights included a few dance classes and a tea tasting by the SocieTEA.

In-between tea tasting and dancing, I decided to explore the surrounding nature and set out to hike Arthur’s Seat which is a dormant volcano that sits smack dap in the middle of Edinburgh. Turns out that Arthur’s Seat is in the middle of Holyrood Park, which is a park that has a number of different hills, ridges, and cliffs. So when we got to what we thought was Arthur’s Seat, we saw many different hills that could potentially be Arthur’s Seat. We decided to choose one at random and hike along it. It offered a beautiful view of the city, including Edinburgh Castle and Calton Hill. After some research, I have figured out that we either climbed Salisbury Crags or Samson's Ribs. Either way, we spent a lovely afternoon enjoying nature, and since it was a surprisingly warm autumn day, rewarded ourselves with an ice cream cone at the bottom of the hill.

Today was the first day of classes. I still can’t wrap my head around the idea that this is my last year in college. Perhaps because I am in a different country, but I don’t think that it will really sink in until I return back to Chicago. So for now I am basking in the glow of feeling like a freshman again and am diving into all my courses. I had all 3 courses today and so far they all seem very exciting and interesting. Excited to see how the rest of the semester goes!