(by Hannah & Delia)
Today, we were lucky and only had to meet up at half past ten. Some used the time in the morning to recover from the Ceilidh dancing, while others were working on their portfolio. When even the biggest sleepyheads were awake, it was time to take a walk to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The sun was already up and shining, the air warm enough that no jacket was needed.
At the palace, we all received audio guides which we of course thoroughly used and gained much information from. The palace was built by David I and was originally used as an abbey. But then, the beauty of the building moved the royals enough to finally choose Palace of Holyroodhouse as their permanent residence. Later Mary Queen of Scots spent most of her tragic life there and even got married there twice.
After this lovely excursion, we had the afternoon off. During our free time, we did different things in groups. One group went hiking up to Arthur's Seat, a former volcano which is 251 m high. Another group stayed in the apartment, relaxed and cooked. The last group explored the city, sat in a café, and went thrift shopping. After some time, everyone was back in the apartment and worked on their portfolios, blogs, and presentations, looking forward to dinner.
At 7:45 pm we all met for our first dinner together as a class. We went to Ciao Roma, a small Italian restaurant with interesting decoration - pirates, ships, portraits, and posters adorned the wall. Apparently, the room is dedicated to Robert L. Stevenson, the Scottish author of Treasure Island, who used to eat at the restaurant often. We all dined very well and went home with a full stomach, ready to go to sleep.
