wednesday walkabout--out for a cuppa (british style)

So this week my London-to-do was a pure treat!  

I was delighted when my previous work family expressed their desire, as a gesture of thanks and farewell, to take me out for...

Fortnum & Mason, on Piccadilly, is as glorious and grand as Liberty but with a different style.  Old and elegant just the same and easily imagined with ladies in frocks and bonnets and gentlemen in tails and top hats leisurely shopping or stopping for a spot of tea.  And it's one of THE places for the 'high tea' experience.

We were booked in at the Diamond Jubilee Tea Rooms on the fourth floor and I was to bring the boy and meet the parents, coming from work, there.  Unfortunately our train journey was a little more complicated than I'd assumed it would be and we got their late.  It would have been nice to relax and stay and chat more than we did.  It was a truly lovely afternoon that I wished could have stretched out a little longer.  We ordered shortly after I arrived and I only had a chance to skim the menu of tea choices.  I chose number four but it was a complicated name that I wasn't sure how to pronounce and couldn't remember.  I only remember that it was a malty tea but it was nice.

I gave the boy a farewell present of two Australian books (Wombat Stew and Possum Magic) that helped keep his tiredness and not-so-wellness from getting too out of control.  I also left them with another Australian book (Where is Green Sheep?) for the baby who didn't join us.  They gave me a farewell book too, a Fortnum and Mason tea book filled with an assortment of classic afternoon tea recipes and a really lovely handwritten message inside. High tea came with a splendid three tier platter EACH!  Indulgence!  It was quite an experience and I've surely not had an afternoon tea like it.  It made me feel really appreciated and special.  It was wonderful that I was treated to something I wanted to do and accompanied by such great people.  Sitting and talking and sharing this experience was so lovely.  I know I keep saying it but it was.  Lovely, lovely, lovely.  I'm going to miss not seeing them every now and then once I'm back in Australia.  They have been a wonderful part of my UK experience.