Amy's Adventures Across the Atlantic: Fancy a Cuppa?

First physics midterm down and how do we celebrate?
Why, but with tea and scones of course!

My dear friend Emily and I met a delightful lady on the train coming home from Paris with the best recommendations to eat in Brighton.

Naturally, a tea house was on the list and we both made a pact with each other to go!

The Mock Turtle is a delightfully quaint tea house in the Lanes of Brighton (the main shopping streets, pictured below and every bit as adorable as you would imagine an English street to look).

We are blessed to go to school in Falmer which is just a short 15 minute bus ride into downtown Brighton, close to the pier.

With pastries in the front room to lure you into its little blue storefront, the Mock Turtle stands out as one of the cutest little tea houses you ever did see!

The website description captures it perfectly:

Even the 80 year-old customers in this tea room say little has changed in the last 50 or 60 years. This traditional Victorian tea room sits quietly amongst the glamour, shabby chic and bohemian feel of this seaside city.

Emily and I were seated downstairs in the dining room and we each enjoyed a cream tea with one fruit and one wholemeal scone each.

The accompanying lemon curd was absolutely to die for -- sharp and tangy yet sweet. The perfect pairing with the clotted cream was as delicately and deliciously English as I could have dreamed!

I don't know what it is about British cream tea but it is just so rich and tasty! The flavor is deep and warm, yet not overwhelming. In the words of Mary Poppins, it was practically perfect!

In my happy place :)

I could not have asked for more delightful company or a sweeter friend :)

pinkies up!

While tea was delightful and delicious, the true treat was the time together with Emily. The Lord has blessed us so incredibly much with this friendship and we enjoyed hours of conversation and getting to know each other, deepening the already tight bond that God has given us within just two short weeks! What a blessing it is to live in fellowship with God's daughters!

After hours of being transported back in time to the British Victorian era, Emily and I took the opportunity to wanter the quaint lanes, popping into any little vintage shop that caught our fancy.

England loves its Bon Bons!

Cream Tea gelato?! Yes, please! Only in England ;)

One of Brighton's landmarks is the Royal Pavilion, an elaborate summer palace originally built as a seaside retreat for George, Prince of Wales in the style of Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture. Building of the former royal residence first began in 1787 and it was eventually bought by the city through the Brighton Improvement Act in 1850. Today, the Pavilion has been restored to its state at the time of King George IV who frequented the Pavilion during his reign in the late 18th century and is used as a museum.

Though we didn't go inside, the architecture was lovely to look at from the outside!