Fortnum & Mason Afternoon Tea

One of the best experiences in London is Afternoon Tea. You can find it all over town, ranging from neighborhood places to High Tea. We chose High Tea at Fortnum & Mason, an upmarket department store founded in 1707.

Fortunum & Mason is the official department store of the Queen.

The windows were already decorated for Christmas.

The store is elegant and beautifully decorated.

Tea was served in the Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon, named in honor of the Queen's visit in 2012, when she formally opened the room.

A pianist played a grand piano in the reception area.

Gentlemen were in suits. You probably wouldn't be turned away if you didn't have a suit or tie but do dress sharply.

You get your choice of loose leaf tea and I chose Jasmine Silver Needle. It's a white tea flavored with jasmine blossoms and it was so fragrant.

There were 4 of us and our server recommended that we get 2 Traditional Afternoon Tea and 2 Savory Tea--each £60/person plus 12% service charge. You can get more of whatever you want so it made sense to try different things.

The Traditional Afternoon Tea included a variety of sandwiches (Norfolk Cured Ham with English Mustard, Cucumber with Mint Cream Cheese, Rare Breed Hen's Egg Mayonnaise with Cress, Fortnum's Smoked Salmon with Tartare Sauce and Coronation Chicken). My favorites were the smoked salmon and coronation chicken, which had Indian flavors.

There were fruit and plain scones (rhymes with gone rather than stone). These were delicious--so moist and absolutely delicious with clotted cream and strawberry preserve as well as lemon curd.

The patisseries included what came on the tower but also checkerboard cake and chocolate cake, sliced from a central station.

The Savory Tea included the same sandwiches, savory scones (Shropshire Blue Cheese Scone with Cranberry Jelly and Courgette and Thyme Scone with Red Onion Marmalade) and a top tier of savory treats. These included Oeuf Drumkilbo, Cashel Blue Parfait with Port Jelly, Duck Mousse & Pistachio Paris-Brest, Smoked Trout on Crackerbread and Glenarm Beef Terrine with Horseradish.

The Oeuf Drumkilbo was the best. It was whipped eggs with lobster--sooo good! It was my favorite and I must say I prefer the savory tea over the traditional tea.

Tea was a 2-hour affair and we were stuffed. We couldn't finish the desserts and took them back to the hotel. Our server also gave us jars of the lemon curd to take home. I think it was because we were generous with additional gratuity.

After tea, we shopped and found these salted caramel biscuits. They make great souvenirs.

This was an adorable lunch tote and a great souvenir--£4.95.

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The West End Walk

We followed Rick Steves West End Walk one morning. Take the tube to Leicester Square to start the tour.

Leicester Square was turned into a Christmas Market. It was disappointing that many of the stalls were similar to the ones in Trafalgar Square.

I had to peek around the Christmas decorations to find the statue of William Shakespeare in the middle of the square.

At the southwestern end of the square is TKTS, home of discount theater tickets.

The Odeon movie theater is Britain's largest cinema, located on the eastern edge of Leicester square.

Global Studios is located next to Odeon. This was formerly Capital Radio London, one of the first commercial stations allowed to play rock & roll, and that was in 1973.

Leaving Leicester Square on the northeast corner, pass the Vue cinema.

Continue on Cranbourn to reach the six-way intersection.

Find Lazenby Court, a tiny lane that leads to the Lamb & Flag Pub.

The Lamb & Flag Pub dates from 1772 and was frequented by Charles Dickens.

Retrace your steps back to Floral Street and you'll find a TK Maxx--Britain's version of TJ Maxx.

A few streets down, you'll find Floral Court, a courtyard filled with eateries, shops and greenery.

Continue on Floral Street and turn right on St. James Street to find Covent Garden. It's a large square with a covered marketplace. It's been here since medieval times, when it was the "covent" garden owned by Westminster Abbey.

Inside the iron and glass building, you'll find Apple Market. In Dickensian days, this area was lined with fruit and vegetable stalls. Today, it's lined with antiques.

There is a Biscuiteers stall selling iced cookies. They were expensive and no samples to make sure the cookies were worth it.

Go downstairs to find Battersea Pie.

Order at the counter then find a seat. The pies will be heated then brought to you. There are a few tables inside and a few tables in the marketplace.

We tried the Steak & Stout pie--£6.50

We also tried the Minced Beef Pie--£6.50. This was definitely the better of the 2. The crust were both flaky but the minced meat filling was more flavorful.

Leave the market on the west side to find St. Paul's Church (not St. Paul's Cathedral). You'll find impressive street performers here. Apparently, the performers have to audition then are given times when they can perform.

Giant potted Christmas tree in the courtyard near St. Paul's Church.

Leave Covent Garden, walk down St. James Street to reach Neal Street. You'll find Neal's Yard Dairy. Stop in to sample their famous cheese. My favorite was the stilton, which was very reasonable at £22/kg. You can bring it back to the states but it's best if eaten within a week.

Continue along Short's Gardens to find Seven Dials Intersection where seven sundials atop a pole mark the intersection of 7 streets.

You'll find "Harry Potter & the Cursed Child" playing at the Palace Theater, located at Cambridge Circus. It's at the corner of Shaftesbury Avenue & Charing Cross Road.

Next stop is Regent Sounds Studio (#4 Denmark Street), a low-cost recording studio where the Rolling Stones recorded "Not Fade Away." 

Numerous British acts also recorded on Denmark Street--The Who ("Happy Jack"), The Kinks ("Denmark Street"), The Beatles ("Fixing a Hole"). Reginald Dwight (Elton John) worked at a music publishing house on Denmark Street, where he wrote "Your Song."

Soho Square Gardens is located in Soho, London's version of Greenwich Village. This garden is the yard shared by the wealthy people living here.

Just a couple blocks south of Soho Square Gardens, you'll find Cafe de Nata on Old Compton Street. Get a Portuguese egg tart for £1.95.

Next stop is Chinatown, where you'll find a pagoda-style arch, visible from the corner of Dean & Old Compton.

Further down the street, you'll come to Picadilly Circus and the end of the tour. This touristy square got its name from picadils, ruffled shirts made in the area in days past.

The center of Picadilly Circus is marked by Eros on a pillar.

The large neon sign lights up the square day & night.

Rick Steves says the walk takes 2 hours but we made so many stops, it took us nearly 4 hours.



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Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square is London's central meeting point.

Nelson's Column stands in the center of it all. It honors Admiral Horatio Nelson, who saved England by defeating Napolean's fleet off the coast of Spain at Trafalgar.

At the base of the column are 4 lions.

The pedestal on the northwest corner of the square (the Fourth Plinth) has changing art.

The current one is a mosaic sphinx.

In mid November, the Christmas market was already set up.

Enter the National Gallery from Trafalgar Square. Admission is free--gotta love the free museums in London.

Nearby is St. Martin-in-the-Fields. The church was built in the 1720s to care for the poor. Today, you can have tea and do brass rubbings.

30-minute concerts are held at 1 pm Mon, Tue & Fri. They're free but there is a suggested donation of £3.50. On the day of our visit, South Korean Minkyu Kim (representing the Beethoven Piano Society of Europe) played Fur Elise, among other pieces by Liszt, Czerny and Sonatine by Sihoo Kim.

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