“‘I don’t feel very much like Pooh today,’ said Pooh.
‘There there,’ said Piglet. ‘I’ll bring you tea and honey until you do.’”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
Today was fancy tea day, and let me just say I have been looking forward to it! I am one of those tea people with the cute cups and a diffuser, etc, plus I’m an Anglophile, so I am always more than ready to enjoy any experience that will make me feel like I am on Downton Abbey. And the cafe at The Natoinal Gallery was so nice, too. I really did feel like I was having a very distinct cultural experience.
Tea time is the best time!
I have always been jealous of cultures that rest in the middle of the day like the Spanish with their siestas and the British with teatime. I have a bone to pick with American culture for not allowing a time to rest during the day. I think we all need it. I tend to fall asleep in weird places without my midday nap. I also wonder if tea during the day doesn’t help to bring the country together around a proverbial table. It is a tradition which has changed in time. Needless to say, I really enjoyed the experience.
Sophie Ryder’s installations at Salisbury Cathedral created a contrast between the medieval and modern, asking the viewer to think about their surroundings in a new way.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have two friends living in London currently who I have been able to meet up with. One of them asked me tonight what I would miss most when I went home. After thinking for a moment, I answered the value and variety of public art. Many museums are free, books are advertised in the Underground, and contemporary art appears even in places of worship like Sophie Ryder’s sculptures at Salisbury cathedral. Appreciation of art, especially in the public sphere is not very common in America. I am becoming more and more inspired to work on my idea of finding my own responses to the city captured in image and poetry for my final project. I want it to take the sprit of this place, and use the inspiration that it gives me to create even more art.
The Winnie the Pooh quote in the beginning made me feel like a little kid again and truly made me want to read your blog post so I thought I would comment on yours. I enjoyed the quotes and loved that you could portray all what you did back to the history of London. The tea time has changed over the span of time but I do feel it is still a tradition even though it does not have the same strict “rules” they had later in time. I think it still brings the country together but doesn’t have the same guidelines it used too. I loved the picture of the tea and treats. I enjoyed the experience a lot because their food is so different. I feel like everything in London is so elegant and precious. Even with modern architecture I feel like the architect still tries to keep an elegant form/concept.
I enjoyed your spin on the idea of London and how it all comes back to history and certain time periods. I liked that you said you will miss the ideas of literature, free museums and more. I think it’s hard for America to be like London in this way because there is not as good and older architecture as London. I feel like America still has wonderful museums but they are harder to find. The thing I’m going to miss most is the fact that they cherish the old and still value the new architecture. America we tear down and build up all the time. In London it’s a complete different language when it comes to architecture and I will very much miss the idea of cherishing the old and still valuing the new.
I enjoyed your witty blog post 🙂
I love how you started off your post with a Pooh quote! I’ve seen some quotes around the Internet from Winnie the Pooh that I’ve found relatable, though it’s made for children, and your use of it was wonderfully done in relation to the tea! While I’m not personally a tea person, I was very excited to get to experience an actual English tea. I’ve always wanted my own fancy tea set, but knowing I wouldn’t use it for tea, even if I chose to use it for other drinks, just doesn’t seem right. I definitely agree with you about American needing an in-between relaxation time. I feel like having small snack times, such as when we were kids, would be better both physically and mentally because it would give us all a moment to forget about problems and just chill, as well as enjoying a small food item to tide you over until dinner. The art around here is also a very nice change to see, as there are very few pieces, especially in Columbus, and those few are usually hidden away for only the passionate to find.
I couldn’t agree with you more about tea time! It was great getting to just sit and relax in the middle of the day and to have some tasty treats to enjoy. The finger sandwiches were much better then I thought they would be, but I also didn’t know what to expect going into it. Picking what type of tea to get was probably the hardest part of tea time, but I’m glad you suggested the earl grey (it was so good!)
Tea was also just such a cultural experience, so it was nice finally immersing myself into the nature of the city. It really did almost feel like going back in time to when Downton Abbey was based, only because I feel like tea time is not as significant as it once was.
I have noticed over my past few trips that Europe as a whole view the arts a lot differently then we do in the states. They seem to embrace it and it’s not rare for contemporary installations to be in more prominent buildings, especially places of worship. It was really different seeing all of the advertisements for theatre in the tube stations, but it really solidified in my mind the thought that the English car very much about literature and the arts in general.