Hi from Edinburgh! This first week has flown by and I find it hard to believe that it'll be a week tomorrow that we were on our way to the airport! Edinburgh is an absolutely beautiful city. It's a delightful combination of new and old, with modern stores making homes in historic buildings with beautiful architecture. Instead of talking about it, I've included some photos from some of my many walks around Old Town, what they call the section of Edinburgh where Edinburgh Castle, Princes Street, Royal Mile and other streets are located. Princes Street is a popular street that is home to many pubs and shops and the Royal Mile is a street filled with shops and bagpipers that leads up to the stunning Edinburgh Castle. While the whole city is beautiful, this section of Edinburgh is particularly magical. 

I live in a very nice and almost brand new complex called Bainfield Place. Each of the seven buildings within the complex are named after a famous hill in Scotland. I live in Blackford Hill House, but I have yet to actually see or hear of this famous Blackford Hill :) The flats are very new and modern and I have my own room and bathroom! I will post pictures soon! 

There are very distinct reminders that I'm in a foreign country, thousands of miles from home, like the driving on the left side of the road, and the driver's seat and steering wheel being positioned on the right side of the car instead of the left. I think the funniest thing has been seeing all these people in what I would believe to be the driver's seat of the cars. It's especially funny when it's a six year old girl with a bag of chips ("crisps" as they're referred to here!) in her lap. It was my first day here when I saw that and I nearly had a heart attack. Even as I feel as though I'm starting to become acclimated to the differences, I still look twice at passing cars when I see someone out of place sitting on the "driver's side". 

I'm slowly becoming acquainted with the bus system, which is good news considering that besides walking, it is my main mode of transportation here. Old Town is just a five minute bus ride away which makes seeing the beautiful sights very easy to do every day! The bus is also how I'll be getting to the two campuses where I'll be taking my classes and how I get to the grocery store. 

I'll be updating again within the next few days with more details about what I did my first week here but this is it for now, as I have to wake up bright and early to meet one of my professors tomorrow morning! Enjoy the pictures below! Bye for now!

Edinburgh Castle can be seen from all angles from different parts of Old Town. This is one of my favorite views because of the gorgeous green grass and the cliff.

Friendly street reminders in the more touristy parts of Old Town!

First real bagpiper we saw!

The architecture is absolutely stunning.