Summer travel postcards, final installment -- the photo parade of TEA!

For our London stay, a friend recommended The Wolseley, and we were quite pleased with our experience. First of all, it's not a stuffy sort of place in the least. It was very busy, with lots of chatter and laughter, plus great people-watching (& eavesdropping) opportunities. Steve and I both enjoyed the Wolseley Afternoon Blend tea. The scones were freshly baked and still warm, and the sandwiches were deliciously unfussy. As usually happens, we were a bit stuffed by the time we turned to the dessert tier of the tray, but rest assured we did our best. ;)


On our first full day in Cromarty, Scotland, we enjoyed tea and cake at The Pantry. This was a bright, cozy place, and quite peaceful in the late afternoon.


The next day we visited Coupers Creek, a cafe/gift shop also on Church Street. Doesn't that freshly whipped cream look divine?


Once in Gairloch we enjoyed a tray of tea at the Shieldaig Lodge. We each had our own teapot, our own pot of hot water for refilling, and a couple of shortbread cookies. Quite reviving after our long (& winding) drive from the Black Isle!


Finally, a longstanding favorite -- cream tea on the terrace at the Old Parsonage Hotel in Oxford. The silver teapot and strainers are fancy, yet the atmosphere is always relaxing. Over the years I've enjoyed many teas with friends at this spot. (Just for reference, here's what a full tea looks like at Old Parsonage!)

That's it for Summer postcards! I fully intend to return to my "Tea and a Book" posts this fall, so stay tuned!

[Cross-posted at Livejournal]

Summer Travel Postcards: Chastleton House

A field overrun with wildflowers near Moreton-in-Marsh

After our Scotland adventures, it was time to move on to Oxford. We decided to spend our only free day visiting Chastleton House, which involved a train to Moreton-in-Marsh and lots of walking through the Cotswolds. Huzzah!


We were pretty hungry when we arrived. Fortunately the adjoining church, St. Mary's, was offering tea and cake in return for donations to a charity supporting Medical Detection dogs. (This tickled me because I so enjoyed reading Nancy Cataldo's marvelous Sniffer Dogs.) It actually was quite lovely to eat cake in the churchyard among the gravestones!


Chastleton House was built in the early 17th century by a wealthy wool merchant. Hardly any updates were made over the last 400 years, and although the exterior has held up quite nicely, the interior had fallen into terrible disrepair by the late 20th century. (We heard tales of a dotty old lady living there with 30 cats while the house was falling apart around her--you know how I aspire to love that sort of thing!) The National Trust bought the house in 1991 and has been in the process of restoring it ever since.


[As always, click images for a larger view]
In most historic houses, only a few rooms are available for public viewing because the resident family prefers to maintain some privacy. Well, since no one actually lives at Chastleton anymore, we were allowed access to a surprising number of rooms. I was excited to learn that Chastleton was featured in the BBC adaptation of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall. In fact, a key scene between Thomas Cromwell and Anne Boleyn was filmed in the Long Gallery, seen above at the right. Learn more about Chastleton House as a filming location here.


It was quite relaxing to wander in the topiary garden. I love this description from the National Trust website:

The garden has nods to changing garden fashions but still largely has its Jacobean layout, with divisions according to use. And it still preserves its secret garden feel of 'romantic neglect'.

[*happy sigh*]


We wrapped up the day with an impromptu game of croquet. Did you know that the rules of croquet were codified at Chastleton House? They were written by Walter Jones Whitmore and published on April 7, 1866.

Stay tuned for one last travel post featuring . . . TEA!

[Cross-posted at Livejournal]

Summer travel postcards: London

July evening sky -- no filter!

We just returned from a two week trip to England and Scotland. Steve did not direct the law program in Oxford this summer, but he was asked to plan and be present for some special events for the students. Since the trip would take place over our 25th Anniversary, we decided to add on some personal travel, starting with three nights in London.


Couldn't resist this photo upon our Thursday arrival at Paddington Station. I never was much of a Paddington fan as a child, but the 2015 film was utterly enchanting. (Apparently this statue was part of the promotion for the film. See more about the Paddington promotion statues at this blog post. And read my thoughts on the film here.)


On Friday we visited the Leighton House Museum, once home of Pre-Raphaelite painter Frederic Leighton. (His most famous painting might be Flaming June.) It's a lovely house with Middle Eastern architectural and decorative touches, along with an impressive art collection, but I confess my favorite moment was meeting this smushy-faced ginger cat in the garden.


Friday night we enjoyed dinner in Soho with the incomparable Dominic Mattos!


On Saturday we visited the Foundling Museum, built near the site of The Foundling Hospital, established in 1739 by philanthropist Thomas Coram to care for abandoned babies. The two items above are tokens made by mid-18th century mothers who were asked to ‘affix on each child some particular writing, or other distinguishing mark or token, so that the children may be known thereafter if necessary'. Learn more about the tokens here.

[I've long been intrigued by orphans and foundlings in fiction, and my latest story features a foundling girl who is adopted to replace a much grieved child -- a child who, as it turns out, may not have entirely departed from this plane of existence...]


Saturday night we saw The Taming of the Shrew at The Globe and upon leaving encountered this dramatic view of St. Paul's Cathedral from across the Thames.

Stay tuned for more travel postcard posts!

[Cross-posted at Livejournal]

Friday Five -- Tea at the Savoy

For my final English Christmas post, I offer five photos from our holiday tea at The Savoy in London.


The setting was elegant and inviting.


The tea tray included cranberry and plain scones (on top), raspberry ginger preserves, clotted cream, and homemade lemon curd (bottom), plus a collection of cucumber, egg salad, smoked salmon, chicken and duck confit, and ham sandwiches.


I chose the Christmas chai tea, and Steve enjoyed the Savoy afternoon blend. I ended up buying a canister of the latter.


Next . . . pastries!


And just in case we hadn't yet fallen into a sugar coma, the event concluded with dessert.

We could have fed Nicholas Higgins, his daughter, and all the Boucher children with that tea and still had some left over. It was delicious and decadent -- highly recommended for your London tea splurge!

[Cross-posted at Livejournal]

A little Narnia magic

During our time in the Peak District, Chatsworth offered a special exhibit on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Needless to say, this was a MUST SEE for me. Although Steve and I much prefer the grounds of Chatsworth to the house--extravagant Baroque interiors are not quite our thing--this exhibit turned the house into an unforgettably magical place.

[As always, click the photos to see a larger version]


After psssing through the wardrobe, we encountered a wintry corridor full of adorable creatures.


Next, we took tea with Mr. Tumnus. (The gentleman featured on his copy of Is Man a Myth? is the current Duke of Devonshire!)


The wolves tried to spook us along the way, but we soldiered on.


Though Steve did rest on the White Witch's sledge while the poor, tired reindeer took a drink.


My heart pounded at the sight of Evil Jadis and her throne.


And then it broke upon encountering the fallen Aslan.


But then . . . the risen Aslan!

Happy Christmas to all! I'll be back later this week with one last England post about -- you guessed it -- TEA.

[Cross-posted to Livejournal]

Friday Five: English Christmas

Steve and I just returned from a trip to England, where we enjoyed quite an array of Christmas delights (and thankfully avoided having the Apollo Theatre ceiling collapse on us--my thoughts are with the injured). I hope you'll indulge me as I share five of my favorite photos from the experience.


We spent the first three days in the Peak District, and one busy day we shared a turkey & cranberry pasty in the quiet yard of Bakewell Parish Church. Afterwards we peeked inside and were surprised to find a busy project underway that involved lining the walls with lighted Christmas trees. It was so beautiful, and this picture just doesn't do it justice.


As soon as we'd moved on to London, Steve made it a priority to visit Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland. His favorite part was eating. Mine was watching the ice skaters. (Though I rather liked my banana & Nutella crepe, too!)


Here's the view along Regent's street. It's hard to beat London for Christmas light displays!


A return to Royal Albert Hall was certainly in order. Judging by my big ol' goober grin, I guess we were pretty jazzed by the Christmas carols and excerpts from Handel's Messiah.


Evensong at Canterbury Cathedral was quite an interesting experience, but my favorite part was exploring all the cathedral's nooks and crannies afterwards.

Bonus shot: The moon at Chatsworth.

Next week -- tea at The Savoy and Narnia at Chatsworth!

[Cross-posted at Livejournal]