This morning Cydney and I had intended to go the the Vintage Fair for our own interests and some unique gifts, but after looking at our bank accounts and seeing that there was a £10 cover we opted to stay in. We watched BBCSunday Morning Live talk show while eating breakfast mostly pulled in by the discussion of John Galliano. They didn't really talk about him but rather debated whether or not criminal immigrants have human rights, if racial insults require court action, and the SlutWalk and if women should dress modestly. Since everyone else was still sleeping and we were up and ready we opted to check out the local area shops.
Most everything was closed as is the norm on a Sunday. But closer to noon some interesting businesses were open and we found the Atlantis Occult bookshop we had tried to search for before (but it was closed all day--for tomorrow!) We stumbled upon Forbidden Planet which I had been dying to find and it was such an epic comic book store I'm really jealous I don't work there. It is by far better we found it later in our trip than earlier otherwise we'd have spent it all on nerd-gear. We also stuck our heads into an Astrology shop which was totally new age hippie nonsense but it reminded me of Colorado Springs' Crystal Wizard when it was in business years ago. It was amusing to hear the shopkeeper and customer debate the horoscope for the man in the coming year ("It starts out difficult..." "I don't like that." "You do, because it motivates you....""No. I don't like that.") It was a really warm day and we hurried home to get ready for our High Tea at Fortnum and Mason's.
F&M was such a delight. I wore my fancy grey and black ruffle dress with my pinstripe corset and sat at the end of the table. The colors of the tea sets we soft blue and Cydney's blue and white dress made me think of Alice in Wonderland. I even muttered "Clean cup, move down!" in a giggle. Even though we're vegan the staff catered to our diets and we had artichokes and pea soup while the others had carmelized onion tartlets. On the larger meal everyone else had salmon and caviar and meat sandwiches with scones and cakes of different sorts. We on the other hand had an assortment of roasted bell peppers and pesto, artichoke, and cucumber sandwiches, cornmeal scones (really tasty!) and berries, grapes, and strawberry juice as dessert. I just happened to sit at one end of the long tables and so whenever we were taking pictures or just eating I felt like I was having some fancy party. It was all sort of dreamlike and Cyd and I already decided to have tea parties with our cats as we found a cat tea recipe at Harrod's.
We broke off from the group and shopped a bit at F&M. I tried not to look at too much-- I'm sure my suitcase is already full-- but I couldn't help but love their display of teas. I'd've taken a photo but all the stores here are so protective so I'll try to paint a visual. Firstly the shop itself has been around since the 1707 and everything looks over the top fancy. There are towers of fancy jams, chocolates, and tea treats, special gifts and wines all ornamently displayed to match the age of the establishment. Fine and fancy cakes displayed behind glass cases in the middle (other levels specialized in menswear, perfume, other expensive gifts) but the loose leaf teas were on red velvet and contained in glass teapots. I really wanted the flowering teas and the black-strawberry tea.... but we passed. The tea leaves for 3 pots we already priced at £9-£14!
We went home with classmate Alfred and worked on our final projects. We returned to Munchkins to have a veggie burger and print up some paperwork at Accent. There is so little time left it feels like we're just planning our return trip constantly now. We're still hoping to go on the Jack the Ripper tour tomorrow night!
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