Sunrise Hike to Arthur’s Seat, Castles Galore, and Tech

It's Chloe and Caiyu again and today is Day 5 of the Scotland Theatre GEO! 3:45 AM is not our normal wake up time, but it was today because we went on a sunrise hike on Arthur's Seat. We began our hike at 4:15 AM and watched as the sky lightened as we neared closer to the top. It was a little cold and we were definitely still waking up as we walked, but the music playing through the speakers and everyone's excitement quickly made us forget about all that. We reached the top at exactly 5 AM, and waited for 16 minutes to see the sun slowly rising above the horizon. No words or photos can do the sunrise justice, and all we can say about it is that it was a lifetime experience that we'll never forget. 

 

Once we got back down to the dorms, we took a nap until 9:40 AM to prepare for our trip to the Edinburgh Castle at 10:30 AM. Instead of walking like we normally do, seeing as everyone was still a little tired from the hike, we decided to take the public (double decker!) bus there.  

We squeezed our way through the crowd and got inside the castle. To our surprise, the castle was more of a small village on the inside. There were private residences among the cafes, cannons, and exhibitions. You could see the whole of Edinburgh from the castle and we were amazed by the blend of old and new in the city. We were standing in a castle that held centuries of history embedded in its walls, yet we could see a flourishing city with commercial streets and bustling roads just down below. 

After leaving the castle, we broke off into small groups and went to grab lunch before heading over to see our first show, Freak Out! It was a climate change play, which is something that all of us who were here in Third Form had also done as a part of the Storytelling and Stagecraft Theatre course. They told a story of the issue that climate change was posing on UK communities that were losing their homes to costal erosion. It was a blend of commentary and comedy, and it was also interactive with the audience as four of our very own group members were called up onto the stage. 

After that hour long production, we headed back to the dorms for a quick break and a dinner run before we got on the bus at 6:30 PM and headed to our tech rehearsal. It was our first time seeing the venue in person and there were a few things that were different from the way we had imagined them, but with the help of Ken, Carter, and the Space Crew we managed to spend our two hours of tech productively. It made us feel a little more confident and prepared for our opening show in a few days. 

We went back to the dorms once again to check in as a group before heading out to our late night show, Two Hearts: 'Til Death Do Us Hearts. We walked over to the venue, stopping for a quick pizza feed at Papa John's along the way, and were in our seats at 11 PM for our second show of the GEO. It was a musical comedy act and it had all of us laughing and clapping along to all their original songs. 

After having our final laugh, we returned to the dorms for the final time today and got ready for bed. 

Today was an even busier day than yesterday, and we can't wait to see what else we have planned for tomorrow!