Angela

When I think of Edinburgh, four things come to mind: The Fringe Festival, The Royal Mile, kebabs, and Little Orphan Annie. I will now take a minute to explain these to you:

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is the largest theatrical festival in Europe. Essentially, theatre troupes from all over the world come to Edinburgh to perform their works and show a little bit of their culture to the city. There is a range of genres; comedy, musicals, drama, and live music. Many of us took part in watching these events; we saw some we liked and some we didn't. As a class, we saw a play entitled 365: One Night to Learn a Lifetime. It was a drama and social commentary about Scottish youth and foster care. For many, including myself, it was difficult to leave the theater with a dry eye. Besides theatre, many of us took the time to experience the book festival and the international festival as well.

The Royal Mile is one of the main streets that runs through Edinburgh, following the path from the Queen's Holyrood Palace to the Edinburgh Castle. The street is a historic one, containing St. Giles Church and the John Knox house. Some of our favorite spots to visit on this street included the multitude of Scottish shops (scarves!), the Indian store (I think all of us females have some item of clothing from there), and of course the fudge shop (free samples!).

Kebabs were a favorite food of everyone for two reasons: 1. They were delicious. 2. They were cheap. Our favorite shop was probably the Kabob Mahal. With a name like that, how could you go wrong?

Now for Little Orphan Annie. This is a hard one to explain but imagine this: 16 girls, 3 coed showers, and one 20' X 30' room. I'll just say this: If you are ever in Edinburgh, stay at the West End Hostel and you will be singing "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow" in no time.

All that said, Edinburgh is a beautiful city with rich history and a diverse culture. Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-born philanthropist, said it best: "There is no habitation of human beings in this world so fine in its way...as this, the capital of Scotland."