Today I was invited to High Tea with some girls from our new ward. It was at this fancy place called Fortnum & Mason. I met my new friend Jen at the tube stop and we took the tube downtown to Fortnum & Masons. It is a big department store and on the top floor they have this restaurant where they serve tea. Jen said that you have to reserve this place 6 weeks out. It was very posh, as the brits say, and really fun to have the whole experience of "high tea". It was also fun to meet some more ladies from our new ward and get to know them better.
This is the lobby area as you wait to be seated. One American lady come up and asked if she could just have tea for one and the guy behind the counter told her they had absolutely no room. Well then!
A piano player playing songs...
The main dining room and seating area...
I ordered the herbal peppermint tea and honestly my expectations were pretty low because I've never really cared for herbal teas. This tea was actually very delicious and I could totally get used to drinking like that tea on cold mornings.
Pretty centerpieces...
My tea...I loved all the pretty tiffany blue dishes and tea pots!
My friend Jen.
After you order a "hot dish"(I had eggs benedict) they then bring you all the fancy cookies and cakes on these tiered plates. They also had these scones where you put clotted cream, lemon preserve and raspberry jam on them. They were absolutely delicious and my favorite thing from the whole tea. I could get used to this british tradition!
Here is the clotted cream, raspberry jam and lemon curd. So yummy!
Pretty cakes and scones.
Some of these cakes and cookies look prettier than they taste...
Some of the displays of teas and jams and preserves you could purchase. I think I'll have to head back and grab some some day soon.
Tea sets on display. I will now be on the hunt for tea pots and cups and saucers so I can have a tea set to take back to the states with us.
After I got home we just hung around the flat and I made my first big dinner here, spaghetti. They have the same products that we used to use in Italy to make our red sauce and the spaghetti itself here is much more authentic, so the whole meal turned out pretty close to what we used to have in Italy. The fresh bread here is also delicious, and so easy to get at the bakery just down the street from our flat. Even the bread that comes in the packages is much fresher and cut thicker, and seems to be less processed here. We've noticed that most food seem less processed and fresher.
We spent the evening skyping with my family and preparing for Sunday by getting everything ready to go to church, since we need to be out the door early to make it on time. We are excited to go to our new ward tomorrow and the boys are very excited to make some new friends, I guess they are getting sick of just playing with each other!
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