Breakfast and Lunch...English Style!

Today my flatmates, Beth and Jackie, and I woke up early to start the day off right with an authentic English breakfast. This was my first experience with an "English Breakfast" but was pleasantly surprised at how good

Vegetarian English Breakfast

it was!  We went to a small cafe near our flat where we met the cook who introduced himself as Happy to me but as Smiley to Beth...we wondered if he was just naming off the 7 dwarfs or if that was just how he felt this morning. : ) 

I originally decided that I was only going to have eggs, toast, and mushrooms which would be the vegetarian style "English Breakfast" without the beans.  However, when Happy/Smiley came over to take our order he gave us all a hard time about not ordering the beans..."Americans, you never order the beans.  Come on, you need fiber with breakfast"...so I decided to give it a try and ended up enjoying the entire breakfast (including the beans) immensely.

After breakfast we were supposed to go on a walking tour around Bloomsbury, where our flat is, but our guide had the wrong date so we ended up having the afternoon to ourselves.  And even though it was raining and cold a group of us decided to attend Afternoon Tea.  This continued my day of eating traditional English meals!

Afternoon Tea

Afternoon Tea Companions

We had a traditional Afternoon Tea in the Lounge of the Strand Palace Hotel near Covent Garden.  This traditional Tea included two pots of black tea, finger sandwiches, scones, and an assortment of pastries.  We had an amazing waitress who explained the different teas to us, made sure we had everything we needed, and even took a couple of group pictures for us!  The tea and the food were a perfect lunch on such a dreary day.  The English really know their tea, even Zane had some!

Zane at Afternoon Tea

I have noticed that all of the waiters/waitresses/cooks that have helped us since we have been been here have been amazing!  Happy/Smiley, from the cafe this morning, sat down with us and chatted while we ordered our breakfast and the waitress from the Strand Hotel went out of her way to make sure we enjoyed our Afternoon Tea.  Everyone has been so welcoming and helpful, I hope that this trend continues throughout my entire trip!!

I do believe that Afternoon Tea has been one of my favorite activities do far...why dont we have this in America?  I think I will bring this tradition home with me when I leave London.  Let me know if you want to join me for a cuppa!

Me with a cup of tea!