Doors Open Day

Today Edinburgh and Dalkeith had their annual "Doors Open Day", which is where private buildings open their doors to the public. This meant that our house, Dalkeith Palace, was open as well. On Friday we didn't have class, so this was our first extended weekend. Most people in the house went on trips, so the house has been much quieter as normal. (Although, as you all know, nothing is ever completely quiet while I'm around!) I decided to stick around the house this weekend, mostly because I wanted to give tours to locals who came here for Doors Open Day. The 30 minute tours took people throughout the house, and into about 10 different rooms. Nikki and I were tour guide partners and gave 3 tours throughout the day. It was such a great experience hearing people talk about how they grew up around the castle without actually ever being inside of it. Hearing locals talk about how much this place meant to them really proved just how special it truly is. As like most people, I appreciated the house for the first few days I was here, then took advantage of it. After listening to so many different people tell me stories from their lives about seeing the inside of the castle after 40 years of looking from the outside made me realize that I can't take this experience for granted.
It also shows how large this house is, but how little of it we actually use. For example, most days the only rooms I use are my dorm, the kitchen/dining hall, library and maybe a lounge. Even with only a few rooms of the house being used, trying to find somebody here is like looking for a needle in a haystack! Most of the time people give up and end up calling that person's cell phone, only to find out they're in the room next to them.
This upcoming week classes are much longer than normal, due to the fact that we're covering about 2 months worth of material in 4 days. We have 6 hours of class a day, and also 2 reports due this week. Thankfully we also have a great treat for making it through the week-we're heading off to London on Friday!! We're going to see the play Wicked, which I haven't had a chance to see yet, but I hear it's fantastic. Most of the girls in the house went out and bought a going out outfit for that night, since everybody dresses up to go to the theatre. I actually bought a dress that wasn't a neutral color!!

(This picture doesn't do the dress justice. I promise to take a better one when I debut it in London!)

There are a few things that they have planned for us, which they're going to talk about tomorrow night at our ice cream social, but for the most part we have free time to do what we want. Naturally my first idea of something to do was go shopping! Does anyone have any suggestions of places to go or things to do/see in London? I would greatly appreciate any tips! :)