We ate lunch at the Elephant Cafe, a charming little lunch spot with windows overlooking both Edinburgh Castle and Greyfriar's Kirk Graveyard.
The Elephant Cafe had really great food, and even better atmosphere, with carved wooden elephant chairs, and giant elephant prints along the walls.
The reason for my personal interest in the cafe is that this is the location in which J.K. Rowling sat to do most of her initial draft of the very first Harry Potter book. After spending some time in Edinburgh, one can easily see how the ancient old city is infused into the story. Greyfriar's Kirk Graveyard contains graves for one Tom Riddle, McGonagall and couple others I can't remember. Next to Greyfriar's church rise the stately stone walls of a castle-like building, now a private school for boys and girls, who wear uniforms and colored scarves differentiating their colleges within the school.
As I was taking pictures of the would-be Hogwarts through the railing, to my astonishment I spotted Ron Weasely himself! Well, you can't really tell because of my crappy camera's zoom (note to self, must purchase better camera before embarking on career as paparrazzi), but the short, brilliantly carrot-topped lad was a dead ringer for Ron, patiently waiting for his ride (or some such).
After I finished my crazed fan behavior, I visited Greyfriar's Kirk once again (this time in daylight) to search for the Harry Potter characters tombstones soak up the peacefulness of the lovely old church and it's beautifully tended graveyard.
Greyfriar's Kirk is also the home of the grave of Greyfriar's Bobby, who may be familiar to some of you from a 1961 Disney film. Bobby was Skye terrier, who, after the death of his master John Gray (who worked for the Edinburgh city police as a night watchman), arrived to sit at the gravesite each day in Greyfriar's Kirkyard. This faithful attendance only ended with the terrier's own death 14 years later on Jan 14th, 1872. Today, a tombstone at the entrance to the graveyard marks the burial place of the faithful animal stating "Let his loyalty and devotion be a lesson to us all." Flowers and tokens from his many fans adorn it still today.
Greyfriar Bobby, as the terrier was known, had become a beloved town figure, and following his death Lady Burdett-Coutts, a 19th century philanthropist, erected a statue and a fountain to commemorate him at the end of the George IV Bridge. Today, a pub by the same name also stands next to the statue.
With only an hour left before we had to catch our train out of Edinburgh, Richard and I paid a visit to the Museum of Scotland. It was beautiful old building (museum's stateside got nuthin' on Europe for ambience, lol). Is it just me, or does the main hall of the museum look strikingly similar to the grand hall of Captain Von Trapp's home in Sound of Music? I could just see the kids singing their little goodbye song and waving as the passed along the railing...lol.
Richard was not quite so impressed with the Sound of Music references as he was with Dolly, the very first animal every successfully cloned (now stuffed, preserved and on display). Also on display, one of the very first automobiles, which did "catch on", and an interesting variation on the standard bicycle, which did not.
To conclude our time in Scotland, I'll just add a couple quick snapshots of books I saw on display in various locations that I didn't buy, but really wished I had the money and space to purchase, for their comedic value alone.
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