The Elephant House.
If you are a Harry Potter fan, then it’s likely that you’ve heard about The Elephant House. Touted as “The Birthplace of Harry Potter”, it is said that J.K. Rowling penned some of her works here.
Edinburgh.
Here’s my disclaimer. Prior to planning a trip to Scotland, I’d never watched all any of the Harry Potter movies. Sure, I’d seen bits and pieces. I’d even been to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter because we had annual passes to Universal Studios when I lived in Florida. I was knee deep in babies and toddlers when the first movie came out. I didn’t have time to brush my hair, much less watch a movie. Then I didn’t want to see them out of order…time passed…and the. I was going to head to Scotland.
So I binge-watched the entire set of movies…and started reading the first book on my plane ride to Edinburgh.
Must See List.
As I perused “must-see” places in Edinburgh, The Elephant House (a gourmet coffee and tea shop) made the list.
I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, so we decided to head there one evening, for dessert. We were coming from a dinner down in the Grassmarket. By the time we got the coffee and tea shop, located at 21 George IV Bridge, it was close to closing time. We weren’t sure if we were too late, but they seated us for dessert.
Dessert.
The menu had a good selection of drinks and tasty sweets. My mom opted for the hot chocolate. I went with a hot chocolate that had Bailey’s Irish Creme.
Everyone said they were yum. Overly sweet drinks and I don’t mesh, so I should have gone with coffee or tea. I paired my drink with a decadent slice of red velvet cake.
Decor.
In a place called The Elephant House, you would expect an Elephant motif. And it did not disappoint. We ended up at this cool table in the back of the restaurant that had this amazing chair.
View.
There really is a view of Edinburgh Castle out the window.
I can definitely see the appeal of sitting here and writing over a nice, warm drink.
Grafitti.
Of course one of the things that I heard about was the graffitied bathrooms.
I don’t really take bathroom photos, but snagged this one because there are traces of “ginger” in our family. In fact, while Mr. D’s hair has become a shade of reddish-brown, it was very red when he was born.
On our return to Edinburgh (after Glasgow), I went back to get some photos in the daylight.
We did the bus tour in Edinburgh, on which it was mentioned that many places claim Harry Potter fame, but that only The Spoon Cafe was given a plaque.
That was okay. I didn’t visit The Elephant House because I am a hardcore Potter fan.
I visited because I take inspiration in a woman who poured out her ideas, her words, her imaginations…who created…who took a chance.
It makes me want to be more fearless.
To take chances.
To create.
Let your light shine!
Amy
