Breakfast began the long adventurous day in Edinburgh. We ate at about 8:30-9 and this hotel is stinking fancy so their breakfast buffet was pretty posh. I wasn't even sure what most of it was, but it was tasty. We had an appointment at the Edinburgh castle for a guided tour at about 9:30. We are staying right on the Royal Mile so the castle is only like a 10 minute walk away which is nice. The Royal Mile has so many tourist shops and Scotland themed shops. A lot of cashmere and wool and kilts and plaid. It is so fun to look at it all. Also, all of the buildings look really old. Although we found out later that most of them are not original and have been rebuilt to look old which is a bummer. There are still a lot of old buildings though so it's all good. Our tour guide was Mike (our last tour guide was Mike too, must be a Mike thing) and he was dressed in traditional Scottish dress and had a pretty heavy accent. I don't know how his knees weren't cold (due to the kilt) because it was a rainy, windy, chilly day. We went into the castle and it had some great views, cannons, a chapel, a great hall, the crown jewels (the second oldest ever), some bedrooms (including where King James was born), and a memorial building. I love looking at the old buildings and imagining living during those times in those buildings. There homes and living quarters were just so different than how we build and decorate now. Maybe because they were just a little rich too. We then met up at 11 for a tour of the city. He took us to some cathedrals, memorials, cemeteries, and just lots of old buildings in general. The cathedrals were gorgeous as always. Stained glass and vaulted ceilings and architecture that blows your mind. The cemetery was where J.K. Rowling would go for inspiration and there are some tombs with names she used in the book like Tom Riddle and Mcgonagall. There were also lots of locks in the cemetery because apparently there has been some serious paranormal activity going on which freaked out the townspeople lolz. The tour ended at 1 and then we found some lunch. We found a Mexican restaurant which we have all been craving. I got nachos and they were fab. Then we shopped for a bit. We went into a lot of antique and vintage stores and if they were in America I would probably go bankrupt there. The clothes and jewelry were so cool! We also went into a lot of souvenir shops and ring shops. We went into this old building which holds a market and I found the most perfect ring there. My fave souvenir so far. very excited about it. We window shopped some more and then decided to hike Arthur's Seat. When we walked upon it, our minds were blown. The ridge is so long and tall. We were like uhhhh we are going to walk up that huge thing? are we sure? but we were determined to do it. We started the hike up the trail and it started okay and then it was hard, then difficult, then we were dying. This thing is pretty steep and since it rained it was slippery and you had to watch every step. It was very exhausting and it was cold but we were hot so it was that weird in between feeling in temperature and we had headaches so we were struggling. We just kept pushing each other to keep going because it would be worth it. Finally we reached a higher point in the trail and we turned around and our mouths dropped. Definitely going to be worth it. The view from halfway up was already unbelievable. We kept reminding ourselves the rest of the way how amazing the view would be. When we got to the top and thought we were going to die, a rainbow appeared right in front of our faces. It seemed like it was 20 feet away from our faces. It was so bright and crisp! Then we saw the other end of it extend from the clouds. Then a double rainbow appeared. We seriously didn't believe it. We just kept shouting and squealing and smiling and outwardly expressing the joy we felt. If we didn't see God all around us before, we definitely did then. He was practically throwing it in our face how perfect His creation is. I wasn't complaining. It was probably the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Glimpses of blue sky, grey and white clouds, the North Sea behind the rainbow, the city, the green hills and valleys, the wheat fields. Everything was perfect. Our hard work was worth the reward. A great reminder of our great reward of Heaven after this life. Then we climbed the rocks to the very top and right when we reached the top, the wind picked up. It was so strong it could literally blow you over if you weren't careful. We held onto the stone at the top for dear life. We just kept laughing at how crazy the wind was but we didn't even care because we were surrounded by the most perfect 360 view. It was one of the best views I have seen in my life. After lots of pictures, some falling on the muddy slippery rocks, and smiles on smiles, we headed down. We then stopped at a market to get some food for dinner and then went back to the hotel. We just chilled and uploaded pictures and talked for a bit and then we decided to go back out. We were on the hunt for a Highland Cow. When we finally found one after thorough searching, we went back to the hotel and called it a night. The day was a whirlwind and didn't seem real. It didn't feel like much but also felt like the day lasted forever. We have an early morning tomorrow and are headed for Stratford-upon-Avon.

Fun Facts: Today my search for the perfect study abroad shoes paid off. I kept telling mom and Ansley that I wanted shoes that I could wear in town and be cute but then go hike a mountain in. Well, today I wore my boots around town and looked decent but then we hiked Arthur's Seat and they were very trusty hiking boots as well. Yay for two in one shoes.

Shoutout: Benjamin!!!! Love this boy and miss him every day. Today, I traveled to the same places he traveled and it was amazing. I felt connected again knowing we have both experienced the same adventure. I finally understood so many more things about what he told me after he got back from his trip and I could envision his pictures better. I also hear a lot about him from friends at school and I love hearing all the Ben stories. Anything that connects to him puts a smile on my face. LOVE YOU HONEY!