It still hasn’t hit me that I’m here, in Edinburgh! It’s been an eventful couple of weeks, from driving up to Edinburgh on Saturday 11th to starting Uni. At first, I felt overwhelmed by all the boxes I had to unpack and the steep hills I’ll be walking every day, but noticing everyone felt the same, calmed my nerves. I decided to throw myself straight into freshers starting with The Big Freshers Movement, which was disappointing due to the number of tickets that were sold and not even half of us got into the small event. However, this wasn’t going to dampen my mood as the next night was the cocktail society. I got to know a couple of people in different flats within the accommodation, so we took an uber to 56 North, to find a queue of young freshers. Now coming from a small town with Weatherspoon’s as our main pub I was shocked when a drink costs me £8.95, it was a very nice drink though!
Wednesday was the main event, where I met up with the Architecture Society (EUSAS) for a pub crawl around Edinburgh starting off at Bar 50, then off to an Irish pub for some live music. I got to know a couple of year 4’s and others who were lovely and we danced and sang “Come on Eileen” together. The night started off in the best possible way, I was loving this new student lifestyle especially being based in beautiful Edinburgh. The night kept getting better as we went to The Three Sisters probably the best outside nightclub in Edinburgh, the songs were incredible, and the drink prices were suitable. Every night out past my expectations, however, I did catch freshers’ flu :(.
It started to sink in that I’m in Edinburgh studying Architecture, something I have dreamt about for many years, and I was so excited to start on Monday. We went out to galleries and museums as our first task, which is the best task I could ever ask for. I enjoyed the walks around the city to find my bearings; even though some of the streets look the same, and tried my first ever Pret a Manger. I really enjoyed the Modern National Gallery, the building was stunning especially in the sun, making the intense colours of the stone brighter. There were some fantastic paintings I found the ones by Joan Eardley very interesting as Eardley uses materials from her surroundings to produce detail and texture. Looking at new, different artists inspires me to try different techniques and find new textures I can add to my artwork.
Everything was going great until I got back to my accommodation to find out that I needed to self-isolate as I’ve been in contact with someone who has Covid-19. My issue was that I had a concert on Tuesday night, so I drove to get a PCR test, and had to wait anxiously to see if I would get it back in time. Scrolling through emails to refresh them every 5 minutes and checking my texts, the concert was at 6-00pm in Glasgow so I really needed it before 4-00pm. 4-00pm came and nothing, then I got a text saying I was negative, I got ready before this in the hope I would get it, so I hopped in my car and drove all the way to Glasgow with 10 minutes to spare. It was worth the wait and anticipation!
Edinburgh has been brilliant so far, I feel like I have grown so much in one week, and I’m so excited to learn about Architecture. Everything has passed my expectations and I can see myself living, learning, and growing in Edinburgh for years to come!
