Where childhoods were born

I visited the Elephant House here in Edinburgh for my birthday that happened a week ago. For those uninitiated with the Elephant House, it is known for being one of the places where JK Rowling sat to write the first drafts of Harry Potter!

I am a huge, huge fan of Harry Potter. I love the series and I love Hogwarts - I just worked at Harry Potter: The Exhibition this past summer - and I started reading Harry Potter when I was 8, so it's all a huge part of my life!



Two things are in abundance at the cafe: elephants, and Harry Potter. There are little snippets and articles about what's happening with JK Rowling and Harry Potter, and there are a ton of elephants everywhere! Well, it is called the Elephant House for a reason...



There are lots of newspaper articles on the plights of elephants around the world. It's nice to see this conservation effort going on here.





To be honest, though I thought I would be super excited about coming to the Elephant House, the actual experience was a little anticlimatic. It felt like any old regular cafe - a nice cafe, and I really liked it, but it wasn't exciting or anything like that - which was nice as well, because I can see how JK Rowling was able to sit in peace and just write.

The food isn't too bad, either! The price range is pretty decent; about £6-8 for an average meal, which is alright by UK standards.







The cafe au lait was good - not too bitter and not too sweet.



This is the foccacia sandwich with brie cheese and bacon. It was really good, I liked it.

Somehow a staple got into my food, though - I bit into a bit and felt this hard metallic object, which was weird. When I told the staff about it though they were so nice about it, I couldn't find it in me to be mad at them in the slightest! Definitely a thumbs up for excellent customer service.

The staff were extremely apologetic and gave me a choice of my money back or getting something else. So I got this.



This coffee and walnut cake was delicious! Really, really good - the cream complemented the cake perfectly. I would have liked it to be a bit more moist than it was, but I would have it again.

My friend Som had a strawberry sponge cake.



Now one of the cutest things about the Elephant House - when you go into the toilets, they're filled with Harry Potter graffiti!







Alohomora on the toilet door lock! Although I'm not so sure that's such a good idea when you're inside the toilet with your pants down...



I'm incredibly lucky to be living just across the street from the Elephant House, so I know I'll be back! Next time I'm bringing a marker to add my own little bit of graffiti in the toilets ;)

JK Rowling's newest book, The Casual Vacancy, has recently been released. Have you read it or will you be reading it? What are your thoughts?