London Afternoon Tea: Take Three

It's official. I'm obsessed with afternoon tea. 

After our first not-so-great tea, we were determined to experience the amazing afternoon tea everyone raves about in England. How could anyone think that one scone and one chelsea bun counted as a tea? Well, I don't know. So some girls in my flat and I decided to go out and try out luck again for a second afternoon tea and we absolutely loved it. There were scones, sandwiches, pastries, and delicious tea. And don't forget the macaron! Needless to say, I was incredibly happy after that day of an authentic afternoon tea. 

Since we had such an amazing time at our second tea, we decided to have afternoon tea one more time while we were here. So, we found a 2 for 1 deal at Number Twelve and made our reservation for four. The restaurant was really cute but the service was not as great as our second tea. The two servers had thick foreign accents and had trouble understanding our American accents. But once they figured out we had a reservation and we wanted the afternoon tea, everything turned out to be spectacular. 

I ordered the Chamomile Citron tea, which came in a clear pot on top of a clear teacup and saucer. It was different, but ended up looking really cool. We each got four different kinds of tea sandwiches, 2 scones, a strawberry fruit tart, a slice of fruit cake, and a cupcake. It may not seem like a lot, but after having all of the food and two pots of tea each, we were stuffed in the end. But we had so much fun spending two hours sipping our tea and eating our delicious tea food. 

This tea was definitely a lot sweeter than the other one in regards to food, and I absolutely loved it. While I still think the service and environment was the best at our second tea, this one left my stomach feeling the most content. I'm going to miss afternoon tea when I go back home, but I've already made plans with my best friend to have our own tea when she comes back from London in 5 weeks. How could I have gone so long without realizing the magical experience of afternoon tea? 

Chinatown and Yummy Buns

Chinatown has officially become one of my favorite places in London. I've gone there for lunch the past two days in a row and I had to restrain myself from not going back again today. What I love most there are the bakeries and their insanely inexpensive buns! 

For only around 1 pound each, I have tried different types of buns and they are all (well, almost all) so insanely delicious. My favorites would have to be the BBQ pork bun and the custard bun. I've had each of them twice and my mouth waters just thinking about them. The buns themselves are super sweet, so when you get to the savory middle of the pork bun or the even sweeter part of the custard bun, you're already in heaven. Mmm I could definitely eat them for the rest of the time I'm here!

As for the red bean bun, I had no idea what to expect. Red bean pastries are everywhere in Chinatown and I knew I just had to try one. So I picked out a red bean bun. In the beginning, it was pretty good with the sweet bun evening out the red bean part. But when I got to the red bean center, the flavor was just too much and I couldn't finish. So maybe red bean pastries just aren't for me. That's okay, I think I'll be perfectly happy with the pork and custard buns :)

And I finally tried bubble tea! I decided to go with cold Strawberry milk tea with tapioca pearls and I'm still not sure what I think. The Strawberry milk tea was actually really good, but the pearls were just chewy little balls with no real flavor. I guess you can ask for flavored pearls at some shops, so maybe I'll try that next time. The chewy nothingness of the tea I got, though, had me feeling odd. Hopefully my next bubble tea is better!

Not only does Chinatown have delicious food, but there are so many opportunities for adventures in food. I would love to try out even more of what they have to offer, including their creme buns, dim sum, and maybe even some duck. I have to go back soon because the endless possibilities and anticipation are killing me!

The Magical World of Harry Potter

This past friday, I had the most magical day of my life. The reason? Harry Potter London Studio Tour. 

I don't even know where to begin in describing how fantastic my day was at the studio of Harry Potter. Our tour was for 12:30 and we didn't end up leaving the studio until almost 4pm. There was so much to see! We got to see the Great Hall, Dumbeldore's office, Umbridge's office, the Gryffindor common room, Diagon Alley, the Hogwarts model, the Ministry of Magic, the Weasley's Burrow, Hagrid's Hut, the Potions classroom, Number 4 Privot Drive, the Night Bus, and so much more. 

To say that I was in heaven is the biggest understatement. I felt like a little girl on Christmas morning who got everything she could ever want. I learned so much about the making of the movies and being there felt so real. Walking down Diagon Alley and drinking Butterbeer on the Hogwarts bridge was such a surreal moment and I loved every single minute of it. At every set/prop station, there were signs that had passages from the book that describes whatever was being shown there. It is amazing how they used even the tiniest details from the book and brought it to life in the movie. 

I wish I could explain every little thing I saw, but that would take hours to write it all down. So I picked my favorite parts of the tour to share in pictures! I think the Butterbeer was definitely the best part, because it was the most delicious drink I've ever tasted. I can't wait to find a recipe and make my own when I get home. Then, I treated myself to a chocolate frog from the gift shop (it was pretty expensive, but I just couldn't resist) and got Godric Gryffindor's card! And the chocolate frog was really yummy :) 

Needless to say, the Harry Potter Studio Tour was magical and I'm still giddy just thinking about it. My eyes were so wide and my jaw was literally glued to the floor because I was in awe of everything I was seeing. I'm so happy I was able to experience the world of some of my favorite books of all time. It's definitely an experience I will never, ever forget. 

London Afternoon Tea: Take Two

After quite a disappointing afternoon tea at the Cadogan Hotel my first week in London, I knew I had to try it out again. So, I went to the website Afternoon Tea Online and found a fanastic deal for 40% afternoon tea at the Doubletree Hilton Hotel. I looked at the menu, which included sandwiches, scones, cakes, and macarons. Now that is the kind of tea I was looking for. Not only did I want some tasty tea, but lots and lots of tasty treats as well. 

When we arrived at the hotel restaurant, we were about 40 minutes early because we were already in the area and starving. Thankfully, that was no problem for them! Our waiter immediately led us to a table in the black and purple restaurant area and took our order of what tea we would like. The tea was from The London Tea Company and I chose the Blackcurrant, Raspberry, and Cinnamon tea for my first pot. Soon after, the waiter brought out our pots of tea (we all got our own individual pots) along with a tier of our tea food. We were in awe of the tower of treats he placed on our table and were beyond giddy as we debated what to try out first. We decided to work our way up, starting with the tea sandwiches first. Each one was so different and I loved every single one. My favorite was probably the smoked salmon sandwich with the prawn, cucumber, and dill sandwich coming at a close second. 

Once we were done obsessing over how amazing the sandwiches were, we were ready to move onto the scones. With clotted cream and three types of jam (orange, a more tart orange, and strawberry), we chose our spreads and prepared the scones. One bite into them and we were total goners. How could a simple scone taste so heavenly? By then, we had all gone through our pots of tea (about 2 1/2 teacups worth) and were ready for another round. To our surprise and utter excitement, we could choose a new type of tea, so this time around I went with the Lemongrass, Ginger, and Citrus Fruits tea. It was a lot lighter than the first tea, but still oh-so-delicious and perfect for the dessert portion of the tea. As we finished up the scones and drank up more tea, we couldn't help but obsess over how amazing the experience was compared to our first tea. 

We decided to let our food settle for a bit before moving onto desserts, so we chatted some more while drinking even more tea for about twenty minutes. And then, finally, it was dessert time. We had a chocolatine, a framboisier, and a vanilla macaroon each. Oh my goodness, they were definitely the icing on the cake for this afternoon tea. I savored each and every bite and couldn't help but feel sad once I put that last piece of macaron in my mouth. There was not a single component of the meal I didn't like and I'm already dreaming of the next time I can have an afternoon tea with my friends. 

I am so happy I was able to find an afternoon tea that I can cherish and remember forever. With tiny sandwiches, sweet pastries, and delicious tea, London has yet again wowed me with its fantastic culture and food. Hopefully I can find one more place to have afternoon tea before I leave. This will definitely be one of the things I will miss the most when I got back home. Tea at home just isn't the same as a magical afternoon tea in England. 

Trooping the Colour (aka I saw the Queen)

I saw Queen Elizabeth II. And Harry. And Will. And Kate. Oh. My. Gosh. 

Today was the Trooping the Colour, which is the official celebration of the Queen's birthday. Starting at Buckingham Palace, the entire royal family rides along the Mall down to an auditorium area where the Queen inspects the royal troops. Then, after about an hour, the royal family comes back up the Mall towards Buckingham Palace, and then comes out onto the balcony and waves at the citizens below. As they wave, tons of planes fly over and it all ends with 9 jets flying across the sky, leaving smoke trails of red, white, and blue behind. 

Seeing the Queen is a once in a lifetime experience, so me and my friends made sure we could make the most of it. We got up around 6:30 am and were out of the flat by 7:30. We took the tube over to Buckingham Palace and had the perfect spot picked out to see the parade by 8 am. The wind was pretty cold today and our side was in the shade, so the day was a bit chilly as we waited two hours for the royal family to show up. But we bonded with a woman and her adorable 3-year-old son whose Dad was riding a horse in the parade and the time actually passed by pretty quickly. 

Once the royal family pulled out of Buckingham Palace and onto the street, the moment was so surreal to us that we didn't even realize who was riding by until they were well past us. Good thing they were coming by again an hour later! Kate looked so pretty in her pink outfit and hat, with an adorable looking Harry sitting across from her. William was on a horse being the Queen, and I hadn't even realized it was him underneath the uniform and big hat. At least I got some pictures to look back on and figure out who was who! The Queen was flawless as usual, in an elegant blue dress and blue hat with white lace. After the parade, the royal family came out on the balcony around 1 pm and jets flew over with the most spectacular colored smoke coming from their tails. 

The entire scene was amazing and the moment is still surreal. Did I really see the entire royal family? I sure did! I feel like I sound like a broken record every single time I post about London, but this experience has honestly been the most amazing experience of my life. Each day brings bigger and better things, and I'm still in shock over it all being real. But it is! And I plan on making my last two weeks here the grandest of them all :)

Notting Hill (Is this real life?)

I'm not sure if you all know, but Notting Hill is one of my favorite movies of all time. Since I'm living so close to where the movie was filmed, I knew I had to visit the town where Hugh Grant once was. On Saturday, I finally had the chance to visit and check out Notting Hill and its Portobello Market!

Notting Hill was insanely packed with people for the market and it went on for what seemed like miles. The houses leading up to the market were so pretty and colorful. I could just imagine living in a bright pink house with pretty flowers on the window sill...but back to the market! There were so many antique shops/booths set up in the beginning and everything was so pretty! Some things were still pretty expensive, so I didn't end up buying anything to take home. I did, however, find some very delicious treats while I was there! I had both a creme filled chocolate donut and a carrot cake cupcake from the same booth and they were absolutely delicious. I've learned that the best way to go at markets is to just skip lunch and go straight for the dessert :)

Since Notting Hill was filmed in Notting Hill, I wanted to check out some of the iconic places from the movie. I found what had once been the travel bookshop that Hugh Grant's character worked at in the movie. Now, it's a shoe store called Notting Hill and the sign looks just like the sign on the movie poster! That's so cute! But the staff was not at all happy when I tried to take a picture inside. They yelled at me and made me leave the store. Guess I should have asked first. I was just so excited I completely forgot!

I also had my picture taken in front of the official Notting Hill Bookshop. The lady at the marshmallow square booth (which were delicious) told me that most people think that's the book shop Hugh Grant worked at for the movie, but they're wrong! It's what's now the shoe store and she was totally impressed that I knew that little fact. I do know my Hugh Grant history :)

The market was so much fun and the environment was absolutely crazy. People were everywhere, shops and booths filled the streets, and there were musicians and street performers lining the sidewalk. I even found Charlie Chaplin! I guess you never know what you're going to find at markets...Needless to say it was a great trip and I ended up spending over three hours at the Portobello Market. I'm so happy that I've officially been where one of my favorite movies was filmed. Yet another fantastic and successful day here in England :)

Hello, From Dover!

Yesterday, a group of us took a trip to Dover and it was an absolutely beautiful place! I had only heard of the cliffs of Dover, but I had no idea they would be as beautiful as they were in person. It was quite a hike to get to them, but the sites were so worth the effort. 

Once we got pretty far up the cliffs, there was a spot where you could actually go down the side of the cliffs and down a ladder onto a little rock beach. Now that was quite a workout, but we spent a good half an hour on that rock beach, just chilling in the sun before we had to make the long climb back up. I'm so happy it was a beautiful day because that made the environment that much more amazing. I even got a little burnt on my neck and nose, which is saying  a lot when you're in England at this time of the year. 

I even got to see the Dover Castle! We didn't actually go in because it was a bit too expensive, but the view from the outside was just breathtaking. King Henry II actually lived there! Oh! And there was this strip of land across the water from the cliffs and I could not figure out what it was. And you know what? It was France! I had no idea we were that close to the border, or that I actually saw France! It was such a cool thought that I was that close to another country that I've only dreamed of going to. 

I'm so happy we chose Dover as a day trip destination because it was definitely an amazing place. Who would have thought cliffs could turn out to be so beautiful? Hopefully I can find even more magical places on my adventures in England!

To Do List: #69

#69: Buy yarn from a yarn shop in England

Ever since I've been in England, I've been dying to find a yarn shop to go to. After looking over review after review of yarn shops online, I finally settled on a lovely little shop called Prick Your Finger in Bethnal Green. It was so adorable and I could not wait to see what the little shop had in store for me. 

The woman working there was teaching another woman how to crochet in the front, so I was free to roam the two room shop and look at all of the fantastic colored yarns that lined the wall. Some were a bit more expensive than I wanted to spend (ranging from 5-10 pounds, which is about 7.50-15 dollars per skein) but I found a sale bin! And I settled on some green hand-dyed wool yarn that I thought was really pretty. The owner wrapped it up and even tied some string in a bow around the package. Since I didn't bring any needles with me (I know, I know, but I could only bring so much!), I think I'll leave my yarn all wrapped up so it can be like opening up a present when I get home :)

I'm so happy I found this shop! It makes me even more eager to go out and find some other shops and see what they have to offer. There's just something about being inside of a yarn shop with their walls filled with yarn that makes me all warm and happy on the inside. I'll be on the look out for more shops and definitely report back with my findings.