Victoria - Week 6 High tea

Today we went for high tea at the White Heather Tea Room in Victoria.

It was excellent. Much better than the one Johanna and I had in London England at Harrod's. Well worth the visit. The service was also excellent.

I wish we had taken Maureen and Mike to high tea when they were here, but it just never happened. I am sad about that.

Day 7 in Europe: London England Harrods and high tea

After Mass Johanna and I made our way to Harrods department store. It was quite the trek. We started out on the hop on hop off bus. But there was a traffic jam of some sort. So we got off the bus and walked the rest of the way.

You see, when you are in London there are some important things one needs to know about.

• There are about a gazillion people everywhere you go. Side streets are better for walking.
• There are traffic jams on all the main streets. Always.
• Cars always have the right of way.
• Don't try and cross the street unless you have the walk sign, and look both ways multiple times.
• When you enter Harrods department store, you do it with a gazillion other people.

We finally found the tea room on the fourth floor. You get the usual tea, frou frou sandwiches, little desserts, and scones/clotted cream/jam. The scones/clotted cream/jam were he best I have ever eaten. The rest was okay but not great. The service was mediocre. We both agreed that our expectations were much higher. For the cost I would suggest a person could probably find a much better deal somewhere else in London. And there probably wouldn't be a gazillion people going to the place with you.

The store itself was very glitzy. The few items I looked at, as in picking it up and trying to find a price tag, had no price tag. That told me everything I needed to know.

In fact, all of the food we have eaten while in London has been much better than the food at Harrods. Yesterday we had great food at a pub at lunch (fish and chips and a Philly cheese sandwich), and for supper we ate at a place called Crazy Salad and had some excellent wraps. And we've also been pleasantly surprised that except for Harrods, the food has been cheaper than we expected.

Sorry Harrods but I cannot lie.

Once we left Harrods we ended up walking all the way back to our hotel. We walked 13 KM today. We are walking about an average of 10-12 km a day. When we got home we both flopped on the bed. Jo read and I watched TV. Today we were the tiredest. I think it was the gazillions of people today that really wore us out.

Hyde Park

In front of Harrods

Glitzy ceiling

More Glitz

Marble arch. Used to be near Buckingham Palace. But it blocked Queen Victoria's view. So they moved it. I am not kidding.

Happy Birthday to me

Today we went for high tea at the James Bay Tea Room.

We wanted to go for high tea since we have never done this before and being in Victoria and all, it is the thing to do.

The Empress Hotel also has high tea but it costs $75/a head. That's a lot of money for tea and crumpets. I know high tea has a lot more than tea and crumpets, but did we really need to spend that much money? Nope.

We were very pleased with the James Bay Tea Room, and the service was excellent.

I had tea and Fred had coffee.

My tea was in a real tea pot with a cozy on it. And you know what? The tea was actually hot. It seems that something as simple as boiling water is difficult for many restaurants and coffee places. I don't know why it's difficult. All they have to do is put the water in a kettle. Plug it in. Wait until bubbles appear and like magic the water is hot. Simple.

So. The tea was hot. And the goodies were amazing.

First there were two croissants with egg salad, two homemade cheese scones with smoked salmon, and two tiny quiches. The egg salad and croissant was exceptional. Didn't taste like the egg salad I make. And the cheese scones were light flavourful and fresh, with a good slab of salmon, my of my it was good.

Then there was the scones with clotted cream and jam. I didn't have these but had a bite of Fred's. (I did bring what we didn't eat home though). I've always wondered what clotted cream was. Fred said to me well maybe it's like the unpasteurized warm milk you used to get on the farm that was warm and straight from the cow and used to make you gag? I said no I don't think so.

Turns out it is sort of like thick whipped cream that isn't too sweet but probably has a ton of calories.

The scone again was excellent.

And the dessert was little baby carrot cakes with cream cheese icing and little custard tarts. And the best? Sticky toffee pudding cake. Oh. My. Goodness. It was to die for. Maybe even better than chocolate. I can't believe I just said that.

We did walk around for about 45 minutes after lunch, I mean tea. Which was a good thing. So many carbs. So little time.

And all of this (tax and tip included) for less than half of what it wold have cost us for the two of us at the Emperor Hotel for high tea.

I don't know but I think Ottawa should do high tea. Very civilized.