Hello Happy Bunny

So I have come to the end of my Edinburgh blog posts! As a treat, here are a few more photos I took around the city. This gold post box was installed here to celebrate Sir Chris Hoy’s gold medal victory in the Olympics, Hunter Square This strange fellow was hanging around near Edinburgh Castle The World Famous Frankenstein For dinner, we went to Frankie and Benny’s. Bacon Cheeseburger with chips and tomato relish Woo Woo Just plain and simple coffee. Slurp. A bunny who sneaked into the antelope section at Edinburgh Zoo We went back to Frankie and Benny’s for breakfast on the last day. This is the Lighter Breakfast. A view of Edinburgh Castle Bagpipe player – you will see a lot of them in the city! Jenners department store Scottish National Gallery This is a still from a video I took of a man playing bagpipes…with fire! Edinburgh Fringe Society – I like the quirky decorations! Monument Art Scottish Parliament Building –...

After spending most of the morning at Edinburgh Zoo, we were very hungry. Having looked at places to take afternoon tea, The Dome really stood out for me. The building is very impressive from the outside, and looking inside, it is even more beautiful. There are many floors dedicated to different occasions. For afternoon tea, we went to the Georgian Tea room, and this was the view looking down. We received a warm welcome from the host. Afternoon tea is served from 11am to 4pm at a cost of around £18 per head. It consists of a selection of cakes (we had white chocolate eclair, chocolate mousse, and a white chocolate orange tart), a choice of fruit or plain scone with jam and cream, and a selection of sandwiches (egg mayonnaise, smoked salmon and cucumber, beef and horseradish and ham and mustard), as well as tea or coffee. I think it was a good value afternoon tea, and I was very full at the end. The waiters were very friendly. My only criticism is that I would have like to se...

Mary’s Milk Bar is a small shop in Grassmarket, which specialises in homemade gelato. The ice cream is delicious! I had one scoop of coconut ice cream in a cone (£2.00) which I ate outside in the sunshine. I saw another customer order ice cream to eat in. Their ice cream came in a special swan bowl! The counter staff are very happy and friendly and the ice cream is superb. If you are in the mood for ice cream, you can’t go wrong here.

Edinburgh Zoo is a short bus ride from Princes Street. We arrived nice and early in order to maximise our animal-seeing time. Admittance is £16.50 for adults. There are plenty of animals to see, although sadly we didn’t get to see all of them! The orangutan enclosure was closed for medical reasons and the Sumatran tiger was hiding from us! Zebras Koala Bear Edinburgh Zoo is the only zoo in the UK which plays host to koala bears and giant pandas. There are currently four koalas. Hello Tian Tian Tian TIan with her bamboo It was recently revealed in the news that Tian Tian is pregnant, so the zoo had warned that visitors might not be able to see her. However, Yang Guang will be encouraged to come out for regular feedings. For the pandas, you have to book a viewing slot. During our viewing slot (about 11am), Tian Tian was sat with her back to the visitors eating bamboo. She reached to the side table for more bamboo, nearly losing her balance in the process. Eventually,...

The Elephant House is most famous for its literary significance. This is where JK Rowling wrote the Harry Potter books and Ian Rankin is said to have frequented here – he even mentions it in his novels. The Elephant House serves hot food, cakes and coffee all day and attracts many locals and tourists alike. The styling of the interior is quite unique – the tables and chairs are not what you would find in a typical cafe. In my table was a chest of drawers which contained notes and letters from past customers. There are a lot of elephants (obvious if you look at the name) – models, posters, chairs, books…Also, there is a display case with photos of JK Rowling and a signed copy of Harry Potter in another display cabinet.   Having read reviews online, the hot chocolates are a speciality of the The Elephant House, so I decided to try a Banana Bounty. This is hot chocolate with coconut and banana liqueur. The taste is quite surprising – it tastes quite summery. The fruit flavo...