Monthly Archives: May 2019
Hampton’s Court . . .
Today, along with our visit to the Tower of London, was the highlight of Jan’s visit to London. And mine, too, I guess.
We Ubered out to Hampton Court Palace, Henry VIII’s home away from home, and were dropped off right at the front of the long walk up to the entrance.
And we had to start out with the obligatory selfie of Jan and I.
Strangely enough, until this Europe trip, I had never actually taken a selfie.
After walking across the inner courtyard, we entered the main building and quickly found ourselves in the Great Hall
and its beautiful stained glass windows.
Ironically Anne Boleyn is credited with helping Henry designed the Hall, his favorite place in the Palace. Though it didn’t seem to help her later in life.
Every room had another amazing, beautiful feature.
And when you’re the King, you have your own Chocolate Room where the Royal sweets were prepared.
We even had a personal audience with the King himself, as he regaled us with tales of life in his court.
And then we came to my favorite part, the room where Henry and my relative, Catherine (Katherine, Kateryn, take you pick) Parr were married.
And she was very pretty, even by today’s standards.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m descended from the Parr family and Sir Thomas Parr, Catherine’s father. My grandmother, Sarah Jane Parr, was born in England and was directly descended from Sir Thomas. And since he was a direct descendant of Edward III, we’re actually related to royalty, too.
She and Henry never had any children, so nothing from that line.
Hampton Court Palace was a great end to our London visit since tomorrow we head back home to Houston.
Afternoon Tea At The Chesterfield Mayfair . . .
Today, Jan and I had Afternoon Tea at the Chesterfield Mayfair Hotel in London, something Jan had always wanted to try.
Looking at the guidebooks there were a number of places supposedly well-known for their Afternoon Tea, but figuring the locals would know better, I asked around at the hotel, and 3 for 3, they said the Chesterfield Mayfair. And since it wasn’t being flacked in the guidebooks, we had no trouble getting a reservation, so off we went today.
OK, you know you’re at a snotty British hotel when you pull up in your Uber and this guy greets you.
And it was just as elegant inside as you might expect.
Glad we dressed up.
And the dining room was a beautiful, sunlit, glass-enclosed atrium.
And though we could have ordered an afternoon meal, here was our Afternoon Tea menu.
And here is what you get for your £80.
You’re supposed to start at the bottom and work your way up.
It would probably be gauche to mention here that it’s actually all you can eat. They will just bring you an entire new stand, or you can ask for a couple more of your favorites like we did.
Needless to say, this was our meal for the day.
And, of course, there’s tea with your Afternoon Tea. And not tea bags like us uncouth colonials use. But loose tea, a strainer, and a big pot of hot water.
And you can try a lot of different teas, just like the selection of tidbits.
Now, though this was Jan’s first Afternoon Tea, I had Afternoon Tea with the Duchess and Lady Samantha (Sam, to me) a number of times. In fact the very first time I met the Duchess was for Afternoon Tea, and that’s also when I found out that the young British girl I had been hanging out with was a future duchess, and actual royalty.
I’ve blogged about this several times in the past, but if you missed it, here’s where you can catch up and find out the rest of the story
Robbing Peter To . . .
It’s down in the blog post after our visit to the Tower of London.
Anyway, I remember asking the Duchess one time, noting how fancy it all was (in fact I think hers was probably fancier than the hotel’s), just how fancy was ‘High Tea’?
I mean, ‘High’ is better, right?
Like High Mass and Mass in the Catholic Church. But No.
The Duchess just looked at me and said, “Oh, we would never have High Tea.” and left it at that. But later Sam explained it to me.
But this graphic probably does it better.
Basically it’s a working man’s after-work meal where you sit around a tall counter in high chairs. Hence, High Tea.
See, the things you learn reading this blog.
