Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh

Whew! It's been 4 days since I've written cuz it's just been a whiiiirlwind of activities- I don't think I have a liver left. Welcome to Scotland.
Arrived in Gothenburg City (Göteborg) on Sunday night and flew out to Glasgow, where Claire and Graeme pick me up at the airport. I'm starting to feel really ill so I'm doing everything not t to get sick- Vit A and C, hot bath, tea. Monday I sleep in until 1pm, then out and about to see Glasgow and Claire's university- it's absolutely stunning , straight out of Harry Potter! Looks like the pitch where he learns to play Quidditch! I take some gorgeous photos of all these archways on campus, and then we check out the art museum on campus in this old Victorian building.
At home, Claire and I make some homemade veg soup and ham sandwiches and just hangggg out all the day until Pascal gets in at 10pm. She's from Frankfurt, Germany and was also a study abroad student at Clemson 2 yrs ago. She's fun and totally crazy! We all decide to go out dancing to "Campus", which is SO much fun!!! I was barely even buzzed but it is nice not to be totally wasted. Graeme and Claire and Pascal are such fun to dance with, especially when songs like Grease Lightning come on. We spend the whole night, til almost 3am just dancing in a circle the 4 of us.
Up early to catch the train to EDINBURGH! What a lovely city, not at all like industrial Glasgow. All the buildings are so old and remind me of the Middle Ages or something. Right in the city center is a giant castle, built on the edges of a cliff- straight out of "The Sword in the Stone" hehe. People are more posh here, plus plaid and bagpipes and scotch everywhere. We stop in a pub quickly for lunch and a pint of local McEwin's brew, and then off to Parliament.
Highlight of the day though is our hike up "Arthur's Seat", a giant cliff that overlooks the city and provides a magnificent view of everything. Absolutely worth the walk up. We hike alllll the way up one side, lots and lots of steps, all frosted over, and then we do some real climbing- never a good idea in Converses with no traction. At the top though we get a whole view of the city- and what a beautiful day it is, luckily! We eat our lunch up there and laugh and walk our way down. Graeme decides to go off the beaten track- bad idea. Nearly tumbled off the mountain! We take the train back to Glasgow and straight out to Gourock for the Morton v. Partick football game with the locals. Fuckin' freeeeezing, I've never been so cold. But it's fun to hear all the Scots swearing their heads off at the ref. AFterwards, me, Stuart, Graeme, Claire and Michael get tanked at a bar called Classrooms because vodka and Jack Daniels is only 90p- deal!!! Claire and I say beforehand that we shouldn't drink but of course, inevitably, with 3 Scotsmen and 90p shots- whatta ya expect?!?! So we get in at 4am, wasted. Off to sleep in Frenchie's bed, cuz he's not here!