Afternoon Tea? Yes, Please!

The day did not start off as well as our group had planned. It was frighteningly cold and grey, with imminent rain clouds to boot. Also, our planned walking tour of Bloomsbury had to be canceled at the last minute; apparently our Blue Badge Guide (who according to rumor looked a lot like Colin Firth) had mistaken the date for our tour. And all of us girls were so excited to meet him!

But the day was certainly not lost. A group of us (seven to be exact) decided that we wouldn’t let the rain deter us from walking through Covent Garden and Soho. We took a stroll through the Covent Garden Market, where we quickly spied a Lush store. Knowing how much my cousins love Lush, I decided to buy them a cute little wrapped package of scented soaps. As for myself, I was able to find a personal skincare favorite of mine- the Greased Lightning zit zapper. I highly recommend this product for the occasional big pimple that anytime you have acne that needs to go away, ASAP (which for me, is unfortunately most of the time).

Our lovely waitress had to keep on taking the same group photo,
with all of our cameras. Thankfully, she was very nice about it.

Our mini-shopping spree was followed by a reservation at the Strand Hotel for afternoon tea. And let me tell you, those Brits have perfected the art of a relaxing afternoon ritual- if it were up to me, I would have afternoon tea everyday (though I doubt my boss would be happy). We ordered two different types of tea, that came along with cream and sugar. We were also given a three-tiered serving table full of finger sandwiches, scones, tarts, and mini-cakes. All in all, it was a delicious and filling meal.

Chinatown, in Soho.

After, tea, we walked some more through Soho, specifically taking a detour through Chinatown. And now we are back in our Bedford flat, getting ready to see Billy Elliott tonight at the West End. More on the play will come with tomorrow’s post; all I know is that I am getting very excited!