Sketch Cream Tea

Pink. That is the word I would use to describe Sketch. It is a restaurant near Regent's Street that serves afternoon tea, among other things. The decor is entirely pink. The chairs and benches are pink velvet, and the walls are pink as well. It is like stepping back into the 60's when kitchens and bathrooms were all one color. It is definitely an experience. 

Although I love the idea of afternoon tea, I don't like the price tag involved, so when I saw on their website that they serve cream tea I knew I needed to go. Cream tea, unlike afternoon tea, just serves tea and scones. Yum.

The walls were covered with pictures. Some of them were pretty funny, others were meh. 

The scones arrived in a napkin envelope. They were toasty warm and so very very delicious.

Here they are after I have taken them out of their napkin blanket. Cream tea is traditionally served with scones, jams, and, surprise surprise, clotted cream. One of the other fun things about Sketch is the tableware.  There is a fun sense of humor about the place and it was a fun experience.

I always like writing in the bottom of mugs, and this mug is no exception. Also look, a fancy tea strainer for my fancy tea. 

The Lake District

Way back in October Lisa and I headed to the lake district, and I am just now getting around 

to posting all the lovely pictures. The lake district is extraordinarily beautiful and the fall colors

 were the perfect backdrop for our weekend away from the hustle and bustle of London.  

This first photo was the view from where we were staying. We rented a little airbnb vacation 

trailer and we delighted with the surroundings. 

Here is the adventure Fiat500 that we rented for the trip. It is parked right outside the vacation

 trailer. I think the yellow fiat blends in nicely with the fall time surroundings.

The colors were so vibrant on many of the trails we walked on. As we walked we gathered 

leaves and flowers to make floral crowns. 

Here is a collection of some of the leaves and flowers collected. I made a really pretty floral 

crown, but we didn't get any pictures of it. 

Lunch! In one of the small towns we stopped at a little cafe and had soup, sandwiches, and

 hot cocoa. The weather was a bit cold while we were there, and there was a lot of wind and 

rain that chilled us to the bone, so this was a most welcome meal. 

A charming house called "The Waters Edge" covered in vibrant leaves. I love that they name 

cottages here. 

And finally a lake! We were in the lake district after all. This lake was really pretty, but the 

weather was really really windy, as you might notice from my hair and the waves in the water. 

The walking trail around the lake. Here were some ducks crossing our path along this winding trail. 

Here is a dog that found a giant stick. I love it when dogs find sticks while they are out hiking. 

I am glad I was able to capture this joyous moment. 

More water and Lisa! 

Here is a little village that we stopped in for dinner one evening. The buildings were charming 

as was this little river running through the town. 

Here is a picture of the church in the little town that we ate dinner in.  

I am sure in the summer time these boats are a big hit. But with the choppy water and low 

temps we were happy to just look at them on the shore. 

Here is a little excerpt from a book about the lake district that was in the place we rented. 

I love the writing. My favorite line is "In a word, if Windermere is the Apollo, Derwent 

water is the Venus of the district." You don't find writing like that in tour books these days. 

Some trees near the waters edge. These roots were really interesting to look and and climb on. 

Here is the view from our vacation trailer looking out the front door. Sheep!! 

A little cottage that we passed on one of our many walks in the area. I love the stone

 work and the ivy.

We also made our way over to the ocean. We hiked up the highest point in this picture. 

The weather was quite windy but we enjoyed ourselves none the less. 

All in all the lake district is beautiful. I would probably not go again in the fall time, as

it has much more the offer in the warmer months.  But I will definitely go back again. 

Kensington Palace

One of the things I love about England is the fact that they have royalty. This is purely for the purpose that it means there are palaces and castles, coat of arms, royal jewels, and really excellent history, which make for amazing movies and mini series. The Young Victoria is one of my absolute favorite movies so I was pretty excited to go to Kensington Palace and see where Victoria grew up. 

I am going to be honest, my expectations were pretty high for Kensington, in fact they were a bit too high. Although I enjoyed the visit, I was less than impressed with all they had to offer. A large majority of the palace is private apartments, so there are only four main sections that are accessible to public. They are the Kings Apartments, the Queens Apartment, and exhibit on Queen Victoria, and a clothing exhibit featuring dresses from the Queen, Princess Margaret, and Princess Diana. 

The was a pretty cool staircase leading to the Kings Apartments. You may recognize it if you have seen the Young Victoria. This staircase however was one of the few really amazing things here.

A lot of the palace was "interactive" meaning you could touch stuff and try things on. Here I am with my friend Rachael as we try our hands at cards.

And here we are trying on period clothing. The room was really really dark though, and the clothing was a hodge podge of sizes, but we tried our best! Do you think we could pass for victorians?

In this photo we are standing at the end of one of the great halls. There were some nice paintings and decorations. For this photo we are trying to look regal, not sure how well it is working...

 What a uniform.

The gardens were quite beautiful for a cold January day. This garden is also featured in The Young Victoria. It is outside the palace though so you don't have to pay to see it. 

This was the view from one of the windows of the Kings Apartments. Hyde Park is not to shabby. 

There is a statue of a young(ish) Victoria outside of the entrance to the palace. This is definitely a more becoming statue of her than the one outside Buckingham.

So all in all it was a fun excursion. Kensington Palace is worth looking at if you are near it, but I am not sure it is worth the cost to go inside.

Switzerland

Back in December, Ben and I took a mini break to Switzerland. I just wanted a few days to spend in a beautiful area surrounded by mountains.

Lucerne Switzerland. We stayed in Lucerne and this view was about a two minute walk from our hotel. As we were there in December there were several Christmas markets along either side of the waterfront. There was an international food Christmas market that we went to a few times for delicious fares from all over the world.

Mt. Pilatus. This was the view if you are standing on the right side of the waterfront in the first picture. Not to shabby. 

Okay, and last one of water in Lucerne. Here is standing opposite the picture above. I love how colorful and quaint all the buildings are.

Fun fact: Switzerland has fresh spring water drinking fountains throughout all the major cities. We stopped at one that had this lovely statue. We actually ended sitting here for a while because as we were getting water Ben got a really terrible bloody nose, but thankfully there was water so he could rinse his hands off after it stopped. 

I am never going to tire of cute alleyways and old parts of this ancient cities. 

A lake! I don't remember what lake it was but I do remember that the drive to and around it was beautiful! And let me say, the little golf that we rented was awesome. I love renting cars that I actually enjoy driving. It always makes holidays more enjoyable. 

This was the wall paper in our hotel room. I love it so very much.  One whole wall had this wall paper which depicted farms and houses around Lake Lucerne.

Zurich! We went to Zurich for a day and enjoyed wandering through the city. European churches are the best. We really have nothing like them in the states. Also note the little red spire towards the back of the church.

We ate breakfast at a little cafe on the side of the river. As we were eating I noticed a fondue tram going down the street. It is a tram car where you eat fondue while going all through the city! Next time we go to Zurich I am making a point of going on the fondue tram. Stockholm also had a tram that was a cafe. I am going to do that as well. I love the idea of eating food while going all around the city.

Charming! What more needs to be said?

And last but not least- Grindelwald.  Ever since I read "The White Spider" I wanted to see the Eiger. We drove the the Grindelwald region and were blown away by the beautiful mountains, including the Eiger. There was charming mountain village after charming mountain village. Sadly it was a very bright day and a lot of the photos did not turn out so great as the mountains are all covered in snow. But we had a lovely time none the less. I can't wait to go back and visit Switzerland again!