Arthur and I

Yesterday I only had one class, and after that headed to the library to do a little reading that I had to get done. The library, by the way, is awesome.

A view of the park from one area I was in

The view from the second floor with Arthur's Seat in the background with a cute taxi!

It was about 3 in the afternoon, the sun was out, so obviously I decided it was time for me to get out of the library and decided to walk up Arthur's Seat. Thanks to Wikipedia, I can tell you that: Arthur's Seat is the main peak of the group of hills which form most of Holyrood Park, a wild piece of highland landscape in the centre of the city of Edinburgh, about a mile to the east of Edinburgh Castle. The hill rises above the city to a height of 251 m (823 ft), provides excellent panoramic views of the city, is quite easy to climb, and is a popular walk.

I went to the reception building by my dorm to ask where the entrance was, essentially got yelled at for calling it King Arthur's Seat when "It has nothing to do with King Arthur", and started my 1 minute walk to the entrance. Not bad. There were lots of people either walking up or running up the pathway, which is more like a road, so I was in good company. I had my sneakers on, backpack with my camera inside, and a banana. Set to go. I started my trek up, which all in all probably took about 30 or so minutes to the top, with multiple stops to take pictures. I didn't go to the very top of one of the peaks because it was wet and icy, but that is something I will definitely do on another day.

I was amazed by what I could see only 5 minutes into the walk. There was a beautiful view of the city and mountains in the distance on the right and on my left was lots of cliff and green grass. As I got to the top I could see the ocean. I forget that I'm so close to the ocean from where I am, so it was really cool to see it from there. There was also a pond at the top with swans, which seemed sort of unreal!

On the walk down it was starting to get dark so I was able to see the city in lights. I also managed to wipe out on a small patch of ice in front of runner, so that was nice. No worries, I'm fine- so far that and ordering a juice instead of a real drink top my embarrassing moments- I'm sure there are more to come!

So that was my first trip up Arthur's (not King) Seat. Eventually I'd like to run up it, or at least part of it. I will probably be sore for a week after but oh well. Today I have a class at 3 and then again at 4. Tonight the International Student Center is having a "pub night". They've rented out a pub called the Greenmantle for the night, so that should be fun. No classes tomorrow so hopefully I will be able to do some good exploring tomorrow! Adios.