"Edinburgh, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship"

Arthur's Seat

So today is my last day in Edinburgh.  As I write this my parents are mere hours away from picking me up and sweeping me away on vacation for a week.  I can’t believe that my time in this amazing city is at an end and that I am saying goodbye to everyone and everything I love.  But before I get to the goodbyes, one last update on my last week in Edinburgh.

Saturday and Sunday were mostly spent relaxing and getting ready for the rents arrival on Sunday night.  I spent a couple lovely days in the meadows, some time on Princes street treating myself to a few early birthday presents and unfortunately a fair amount of time in the library finishing up my paper and journal entries.

Parliament

My parents arrived Sunday night from London and it was great/ surreal seeing them in Edinburgh.  Both were outfitted for much colder weather than it was and one of the first things my mother said to me was “You must be freezing, where’s you're jacket???” So typical.  After getting the parents settled in, we all headed to meet Rory, Rob, Rachel and Sarah for a dinner that my parents were nice enough to take us to.  We obviously went to Holyrood 9a because I can’t have a birthday without hamburgers.  The evening was great and I think my parents and friends really enjoyed meeting each other, even if it caused a bit of embarrassment on my part.

Sunday night Rachel, Kaitlyn, Brent, Rory and I rang in my 21^st right if I do say so myself.  It was just such a treat not to have to be studying on my birthday so I’m sure it would have been fun no matter what, but after a couple hours and a table at Brewdogs I was one happy camper. 

Beautiful Edinburgh from the top of Calton Hill

Monday morning I woke up early to show my parents around Edinburgh.  We went to the castle, the palace, Parliament, the cemetery where Adam Smith is buried and the royal mile.  I loved showing off my city and I think we all really enjoyed ourselves.  The weather was a little stop and start but this was actually really fun because it was great seeing my mom react to the 10 minute rainstorms common in Scotland.  All I can say is that’s good Scottish weather for you ;)

Monday night my parents took me to a great fancy dinner for my birthday and it was delicious.  I haven’t actually spent a birthday with them in a while so it was really fun to just be with my parents eating in style.  Tuesday morning I had my last class of the year.  We just went over the election results, but it was still really weird being back in the classroom with everyone. It was also somewhat depressing hearing about just how bad the Lib Dems did in the election, but it was still really fun to compare campaign stories and talk about the future, plus we got sandwiches!

After class I met back up with my parents and we headed to new town to go to the Walter Scott monument and Princes Street Gardens.  After that we all grabbed coffee with Alex so that I could say goodbye and my parents could meet him.  I would say it was a very successful meeting all around.  Alex definitely charmed both my parents and my dad rewarded him by giving him a rather long lecture on how he could improve his campaign strategy.  I will miss Alex and everyone on the campaign so much, but who knows, 2016 isn't that far away ;)

After meeting Alex we headed up to the top of Calton Hill to get great views of the city, a trip that is responsible for the pictures sprinkled throughout this post.  We got yummy pub food for dinner that night and then I introduced the rents to the wonderfulness of a fried mars bar.  Can’t say they enjoyed it that much, but still a fun experience.

Wednesday my parents headed to the highlands for a few days so I had time to focus on packing and writing my paper, which is pretty much what I did all day Wednesday and Thursday.  Wednesday night I said goodbye to Sarah and Rebecca which was super sad, I hate saying goodbye to people when I don’t know when I’ll see them again, but I’m hoping that we can all have a reunion at some point so I’m trying not to be too sad. Thursday I ran some errands with Rachel then met up with her Keith, Kaitlyn, Anna and Clark for some more goodbyes and a fun night out.  Appropriately we went to Biddy’s (my favorite pub), although there was no Karaoke which was definitely a little upsetting.  After Biddy’s we went to Zara’s and I got cheesy chips just like I did my first night out which was great, if not a little nostalgic.

Today I’m just finishing getting everything together and then I head out.  I hate that everything is ending here, but I'm sure I’ll be back, I could never resist Edinburgh for too long.  This has been an amazing experience and I truly understand now why everyone says that you have to go abroad.  There is nothing like the rush of meeting new people,  seeing new places and just finding your way in somewhere completely unique.  I will never forget my time here and I know that it has impacted me deeply.

Anyways mushiness gone,  Ill be back in Atlanta in a week, and LA in two and I cant wait!!!!! Talk to you guys soon from Paris!