A Lady in London

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee is less than three weeks away, and London is in a state of anticipation. Some of the pre-celebrations of the monarch’s 60th anniversary on the throne are Diamond Jubilee afternoon teas. In March I went to one at the Andaz Hotel by Liverpool Street. In April it was The Petersham hotel in Richmond.

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After ten days of traveling in Peru and Bolivia, I landed in London ready to settle back into my life at home. Unfortunately, I only had one day to do so before leaving for a trip to Iceland. So what did I do with my sole day in the UK? I did the most quintessentially British thing I could think of: I went to afternoon tea.

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It’s the new year. Time for new resolutions, new beginnings, and maybe even a new wardrobe. But where to find inspiration? If you’re me, the answer lies in food. Over the holiday season I was invited to Pret a Portea at The Berkeley hotel in London to enjoy their unique fashionista afternoon tea. The offering featured cakes and cookies designed to resemble the season’s catwalk trends.

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Afternoon tea is one of my favorite English traditions. The tiered trays of tiny cakes, the warmth and comfort of a steaming cup of tea, and the serene ambiance of tradition always make for an enjoyable experience. London takes afternoon tea very seriously, with venues across the city coming up with creative themes and menus. One variation that was recently launched by The Halkin hotel in Belgravia is a new Couture Chocolate Afternoon Tea in London.

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It’s not every night that I stay in a hotel room that is larger than my flat. In fact, most rooms I’ve slept in are barely big enough to fit a bed, let alone anything else. This is particularly true in a city like London, where property prices keep hotel rooms small and rates high. But this week I was invited to stay in a suite at the 51 Buckingham Gate hotel in London’s Westminster neighborhood that bucked the trend.

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I have been going to afternoon tea in London a lot lately. But there are other cities in England and the UK where tea is done well, too. It’s only fair to give them a chance, right? Last week I was invited to afternoon tea in Henley-on-Thames at the Hotel du Vin, and I accepted the opportunity to try afternoon tea in another city.

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One of my favorite British traditions is afternoon tea in London. The ritual began in the early 19th century when Anna, Duchess of Bedford, got friends together for tea and cakes every day. Her gatherings sparked a trend that became a tradition in England.

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There aren’t many hidden gems in London. News about new places spreads so quickly that it’s difficult to come up with something that most Londoners don’t know about. But then someone told me about Teanamu Teahouse in Notting Hill.

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Afternoon tea is one of my favorite British traditions. Hotels across London vie for the Tea Guild’s prestigious Top London Afternoon Tea award, and residents and visitors alike benefit from their constant efforts to outdo one another.

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With all the fuss over Halloween, there is another autumn holiday that often gets overlooked. Mexico’s Day of the Dead, which is celebrated on the day after Halloween, is a festival dedicated to the memory of departed souls. How do I know this? I had to give a million presentations on the Dia de los Muertos in Spanish class as a kid.

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After spending last week in the beautiful Lake District, my mother and I felt a bit sad to return to London. To cheer ourselves up, we decided to go for afternoon tea at The Berkeley in Knightsbridge. The hotel is famous for its Pret-a-Portea service, which they describe as “fashionista tea”. Inspired by the current season’s runway shows, everything from the the cakes and cookies to the teacups and saucers is beautifully on trend with the latest fashions.

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My Glaswegian grandmother drank tea by the bucketful. Actually, she drank it by the cupful. But she drank buckets of it. While it never struck me as particularly odd that my mother drank five cups of coffee every morning, my grandmother’s afternoon tea habit seemed bizarrely unnatural. I remember watching her sip cup after cup of the stuff as I sat with eyes wide as the saucer she placed her English Breakfast-filled teacup on, wondering how on earth anyone could drink so much tea.

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