Weekends here, like the weeks, pass so quickly that if you blink you’ll miss them. This weekend was no exception but we filled it with plenty of activities. Saturday morning I decided to walk over to the Victoria and Albert Museum. It’s about a 15 minute walk from my flat and there’s no entrance fee. On my way, I heard from my friend Sarah that a couple of people were going to try and rush The Weir. This sounded like a great idea so we agreed upon a time to meet, leaving me about 30 minutes to wander through the V&A.

One actually needs close to a lifetime to truly see the collection housed in this museum. It is such an impressive place and I only saw 4 galleries worth of art. I will most definitely be back and am thinking of making Saturdays my museums days. It was wonderful to be back inside a museum. I didn’t realize how much I missed it but I suppose when you go from spending 2-3 days each week at a museum to spending none, you’re bound to miss the atmosphere a bit.

Sarah, Teresa, and I met up and took the Tube to Leicester Square. We met Lindsay at the theatre and asked about tickets. The kind woman at the box office informed us that for £55 or £85 we could see the show. No, thank you, box office lady. That is far too expensive for us! So we decided to just wander around the area, popping into theatres with shows we could see, and checking to see if there were any tickets. Everyone wanted to charge us an arm and a leg for tickets so we opted for simply enjoying our walk.

For our RP class, we need to find scenes to work on so the four of us headed to the Samuel French bookshop to hunt for plays. It was a nice walk from Piccadilly Circus to the store, taking us through some picturesque neighborhoods, including a part of Soho I hadn’t seen yet. The bookshop is tucked away, a little off the beaten path, and has more plays than you can imagine. A far cry from the pitiful, singular bookshelf at Barnes and Noble back home, this place had quite possibly every play ever written. They also had books on theory, criticism, and analysis of theatre. We sat there for a while looking for scenes and eventually each found what we needed.

At this point we had a bit of time to kill until my dinner plans with Amy and their dinner plans with some other friends. We decided to get afternoon tea. Sarah had a recommendation from a friend who had been here before so we headed to Fortnum and Mason near Piccadilly Circus. Fortnum and Mason is a magical place… You walk in the door and all around you is every kind of tea ever dreamed up, packaged in the most elegant tins. There is fudge wrapped in perfect cellophane packages, pink champagne with ribbons on the necks of the bottles, and a gorgeous collection of china tea cups and flatware. There is jazz music just loud enough to be heard over the clinks of spoons in tea cups. I grabbed this picture off of Google Images to give you a visual but it doesn’t even come close to doing this place justice:

We headed up to the 4th floor because that’s where the map said the restaurant was. The elevator doors open to reveal a grand piano being played by a man in coat and tails. The hostess standing just in front of that asks us how she can help us. “Can we look at a menu?” we ask, staring incredulously at our surroundings. The menu revealed that we were in the fanciest (read: insanely expensive) restaurant in the building. For a simple cup of tea and perhaps some pastries, we needed to go to the 1st floor. Down we went to The Parlour where we were seated at a pastel, floral table. While we waited to be sat, I noticed a logo for the store and the small writing underneath that read “Since 1707.” People have been drinking this tea longer than America has been a country. We each ordered the Royal Blend tea (which is the blend that was created for Edward VII) and I ordered the duo of scones. Lindsay and Sarah got strudel. Teresa got the Esterhazy cake. Absolutely everything was spectacular. The scones were light and fluffy, the cake was melt-in-your-mouth delicious, and the strudel flaky and sweet. The tea came in heavy silver tea pots with intricate decorations adorning the handle, sides, and lid. We were all like giddy little girls and we couldn’t stop smiling. We felt like such ladies and were loving every second. The 4th floor is now something we aspire to… perhaps we will splurge and go for a special occasion. (My birthday is in a couple of months… I wouldn’t hate getting dressed up and going for proper high tea.) Needless to say, I love Fortnum and Mason. I will be back and high tea alone might keep me in this country. (Don’t worry Mom, I’m only slightly serious.) It’s such a civilized activity and I think that if everyone took an hour out of their day to indulge in some conversation, some sweets, and a warm drink (even just once a week!), the world would be a kinder place. Teresa and I are definitely bringing this custom back to the States.

Here are two pictures from our lady-like afternoon tea:

I then went to meet Amy at The Churchill Arms in Notting Hill. This pub was built in 1750 and was apparently Churchill’s grandparents’ favorite spot to hang out. Now it has a delicious Thai restaurant in the back and the whole thing is filled with World War II and Churchill memorabilia. It’s a truly unique place. There was a big rugby game yesterday (don’t ask me who was playing. I don’t even pretend to understand that sport) so the pub was filled with people watching the game. We enjoyed our Thai food and then stuck around for a bit, enjoying the atmosphere. The all Ireland hurling team was there (ok, really don’t ask me about this because I don’t even know what hurling is… From the game on the television, it looked like lacrosse but with no rules and British) and the owner of the pub was very, very, very excited to have them in his establishment. We even made a new friend! Peter, the 65 year old Londoner who wanted to play guess the US capital cities. It was really awkward when he knew more state capitals than Amy and I. We had a very good time at the Churchill Arms and I will definitely be back. We headed out and I went home to sleep.

Today was much more lazy than yesterday. I slept in, did some work, went for a walk around the neighborhood, and now I’m back in my room doing more work. It’s been a very successful weekend, if I do say so myself. Back to the grind tomorrow!

Until next time!

Cheers!