First few days in Edinburgh

Now that we have all settled in to the flat (mostly), my flatmates and I have spent a lot of time doing orientation things (advisor meetings, pointless meetings, missed meetings...) and getting familiar with the city.

Yesterday morning nothing exciting was happening in the city except for the Pope stopping by...!

In the afternoon we headed up to Calton Hill and took some great photos:

Last night two of my flatmates, a girl from California, and I went for Indian food with 3 guys we've met (2 American, 1 Swiss) and then one flatmate and I hung out at the student union with the guys until really late. It was nice to have a slower-paced night and we all had a great time--it's probably the most fun I've had since I've been here (and that's saying something)!

This morning all my flatmates and I headed to Edinburgh Castle because it was free for us today. Despite it being incredibly cold and windy at the top of the castle, it was a beautiful day to get a view of the city. There's obviously a ton of history behind the castle (think Mary, Queen of Scots) but the most interesting part was the dungeons and all the prisoner-of-war history we came across. We were also there in time to see/hear the gun being fired--the same gun is fired at 1pm each day--ships used to set their clocks by the firing of the gun.