my new city

When the bus driver drove me into Edinburgh on Monday, he told me this:
"There are three things Edinburgh has lots of; that's churches, pubs and golf courses."
And I thought, "oh, am I ever in for a treat."

I asked him about bicycling in the city, since there were a few bike symbols painted on the roads. He laughed at me, saying that biking here is pretty much a death wish. That killed my dreams of finding a beautiful Scottish bike. Walking around, I realize he is sort of right...I can barely even figure out what way the traffic is coming when I'm walking and I also don't know how keen I am on biking up hills of cobblestones.

I live in this hostel, which houses alongside backpackers and numerous stag/"hen" parties, 40 students from the University of Edinburgh. It's a pretty sweet deal, as I have a corner room with my own bathroom and a cleaning service once a week. What?!

The Scots are a very friendly bunch. They have little hesitations towards making new friends, so I've met lots of interesting people. On Wednesday I managed to get a ticket for the sold-out Bon Iver concert and while I was standing up at the front of the concert hall, I was tapped on the shoulder by a couple who were doing a review for some british entertainment website. They asked if I would be interested in taking photos for them to post with the review, since I had my camera with me. The results are here. Pretty cool, right?

Today I think I am finally over my jet-lag. It's a sunny day, so I'm going exploring.