Afternoon Tea

On Thursday of last week, we had afternoon tea at the British Museum arranged through school (read: free!).

Since the last time I was at the museum (mid-90s?), the main courtyard has been completely transformed. The museum's library department was moved to the British Library, and the courtyard was roofed over to provide "the largest covered square in Europe"--The Queen Elizabeth II Great Court. As you can see, the new space is quite stunning...



The gorgeous Reading Room still sits in the middle of the court. The room is now open to the public and looks like a nice, quiet place to study. I must return soon and try it out.

The food at the tea was positively scrumptious. Naturally, we had cucumber sandwiches and scones. H had told earlier me that the "proper" British way to butter your scone is to put the jam on first and then the clotted cream so I tried to follow suit. I kept the cream to a minimum because it looked way too bad for me. Besides, we were having cake for dessert. ;P

And the actual tea itself? I had way too much. As many of your know, I don't drink much caffeine. I've taken a liking to green tea over the last few months, but it has a much lower caffeine content than regular tea. Well, I'm starting to love regular tea as well (I blame my barrister!), and I was sipping it up like it was going out of style. I paid for it later that night, when I didn't fall asleep until 2 AM.

After the tea, we wandered around a bit to check out the mummies and Elgin Marbles, but I plan to go back and do a proper tour. I also hope to go to another afternoon tea. H and I might get all dressed up and splurge on tea at the Ritz sometime in the spring.

I had a pretty eventful weekend so expect another 2-3 posts in the near future, including one with lots of pictures. And hello to all the new family and friends reading my blog. I hope you enjoy it.