Even though I looked haggard as hell, I’m so happy I stayed up late and posted a few nights ago. Everyday is such a “wow” day that there is no reason not to document it. Yesterday was a long one, but a good one. With the free time we had in the middle of our long but good day I found a post office and got some stamps to mail postcards back home. The night before I saw a picture online of a place called Calton Hill. Its a beautiful look out point to see the city thats perfect for photo ops! The huge gate reminds of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin that I only got to see from the bus. Usually I would’ve went alone but I thought my classmates would thoroughly enjoy the experience as well. It was kind of a wild goose chase to get to, as most worthy destinations are, but we found it! How many flights of stairs can you climb in one day? Whatever the record is, we broke it.

The day we got to Edinburgh everyone kept talking about climbing to Arthurs Seat, this ancient volcano across from where we’re staying. I swore I wasn’t going to, because to me it may as well be Mt. Kilimanjaro. So naturally today I participated because yesterday I said I wouldn’t. True Natasha fashion. I was nervous because we supposedly took the harder route but it wasn’t as bad as I thought. I take long strides so the steep rocks weren’t as bad for me, but I was still huffing and puffing every time we took a break.  We met lots of people from all over the world at the top. Russia, South Korea, London, and of course Scotland. We were literally in the middle of a cloud we were up so high. Blame it on the a-a-a-al-ti-tude! We walked across to the highest point. Living on the edge.

Many “oohs” and “ahh” were said. Looking back at how far we’d come was crazy. It’s honestly incomprehensible to me that not only did we climb it, we made it down. It makes me wonder what else I’ve been holding myself back from that just seems so out of reach when it really isn’t. If it wasn’t for my classmates encouragement I wouldn’t of done this. I’m so thankful for them and this experience.