The Elephant House

This was meant to be part of the last First Grade Friends entry, but then I realized first graders might be too young for Harry Potter.  Whoops.

Audrey and I took Tuesday afternoon to wander around the city centre in a way I haven't really done since I moved in.  I mean, I know the area well and am there all the time, but I rarely poke into shops or stop for tea.  So that's exactly what we did, and Audrey took a ton of pictures (she's a photographer and does really fun things with film-you can see for yourself at Visually Stunning, her photography blog), which someday I will steal from her.  After the Writers' Museum we went to The Elephant House, a cute little cafe on George IV Bridge.  We split a pot of vanilla tea and a slice of carrot cake.  The Elephant House, as you might guess, is full of statues and pictures of elephants.  It's super cozy and adorable.

In addition to just being a great place to sit and drink tea, The Elephant House is also the coffee shop in which J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

 Here's Audrey, photographing our carrot cake.

and this is Cu (which means dog in Gaelic), the stuffed sheep I bought at Bothwell.  He came with us so Audrey could use him as a model.

Also Harry Potter related: Did you know JR started and ended the series in Edinburgh?  She finished the last book at the Balmoral Hotel on Princes Street.  It's sort of the Edinburgh version of the Ritz Carlton.  I walk past it whenever I go shopping, but I've never been inside.
This is the facade, though:

I can't wait to see the new movie.  Eventually.