A Nostalgically English Day

Today was a good day. All of my days are good days, but really today was an exceptionally good day. Mom made pancakes for breakfast, and we got to watch the end of the Julia Ormond and Harrison Ford version of "Sabrina" (which I absolutely adore, it is just the most perfect fairy tale.) It is a great movie for out family to watch because my father has a secret crush on Julia Ormond and my mother has a secret crush on Harrison Ford, and since I have a secret crush on Sydney Pollack, everyone wins in this scenario.

For the first time all week the sun decided to show his face for more than the time it takes me to get out my camera. In fact, he stuck around almost all day, and Rain must have taken the day off, because we didn't see him at all, so naturally I took pictures of possibly everything I could while the weather was nice and the best ones are all compiled here.

This is the view off of our back porch, where you can see Bermuda Sound, which I have never seen with so many waves, due to the wind that is apparently baffling the locales more than the disappearance of all of those airplanes back in the day.

Here's another picture of Bermuda Sound, taken from the second floor of the Tucker's Point clubhouse. And yes, the water is actually this color.

Here's a shot of a house I quite like, with the Atlantic Ocean in the background. You cant really tell in the picture, but the sunlight was sparking on the water, and while I'm not the sentimental type, it was really beautiful.

This is a man-made lake with a built in fountain on a beautiful Bermuda golf course that is incorporated where we are staying.

And finally, when you visit the hotel pool, you can see this gorgeous view with Bermuda Sound in the background.

After a lovely walk in the sun, we went to the gym, and the spruced ourselves up for tea. Dad elected to sit in the villa and watch TV, so afternoon tea was a ladies outing today. Which made for an excellent excuse to wear nice clothes and pretend we are much more important and formal people than we were. And it was a good thing Dad wasn't there also, because I doubt the waiters would have been as attentive and kind had he been. Just as a casual remark when we walked into the dining room, Mom commented "Oh look how beautiful the dining room is" and our waiter responded, "Not nearly as beautiful as you ladies." He got a nice tip.

Here are some pictures from the tea. Dad showed me how to use Macro/Food setting on my camera before we left, so some of these pictures might be extra drool-worthy, so you if you need a spit bucket, I'd get one now.

These are the finger sandwiches, which came in the varieties of Tasty, Delicious, Mouth-Watering, Scrumptious, and Finger-Licking Good, otherwise known as Cucumber, Cheese, Egg, Chicken, and Smoked Salmon.

Then following the sandwich course came scones and petite desserts. Arranged on two trays so we didn't have to share and were Holiday Themed because apparently it's Christmas here too. I had actually almost forgotten (how wonderful is that?).

These were most certainly the best scones I have had since I left England. For one because they were warm and served with my favorite type of jelly (raspberry) but also because they are the same variety as traditional English, and look identical to the ones I used to eat at Paul Rhodes Cafe every morning for breakfast this summer with my English Breakfast Tea, which I happened to be drinking this afternoon. Then I started having Greenwich flashbacks and fell into blissful nostalgic free-fall for the remainder of the afternoon.

There were many different types of desserts on the plate, including some very festive Yule Logs, which were filled with chocolately goodness, but my two favorites were the carrot cake (below) and the blackberry and cherry tart with meringue (even more below). Notice the Christmas Tree shaped sugar ornament on the cake below (behind the strawberry).

And OH MY GOD this tart! It was just so freaking delectable. It was so yummy I didn't want to finish it, but I almost licked the crumbs off of the plate (granted I licked my fingers and then picked up the crumbs using the saliva like glue and then licked my fingers, but that shouldn't count). The crust was flaky and sweet, the inside was perfectly pungent in its sour flavor, and the meringue on top was a perfect sugary compliment. And it was so fluffy I thought I might die!!

After having stuffed ourselves silly with afternoon tea, we went back to the villa to play the game of Life, which I hadn't played since I was a little kid. Apparently, living isn't good enough preparation for this game, because all five of us played and I came in dead last but several hundred thousands of dollars. This is probably due to my decision not to attend college at the beginning of the game because I didn't want to be indebted to the bank in school loans, but then I got stuck with the $50,000 salary because I only had one option, while everyone else got three choices because they went to college. Stupid.

I'm honestly a little disappointed that my actual college education failed me in a board game where the object is to just live. I mean, seriously??? I got a 4.0 this quarter....

I think everyone was right about my English Major after all.

After the game we relaxed a bit and then got ready for dinner out at my favorite place to eat on the island, the Swizzle Inn, a traditional English Pub. Their motto is "Swizzle Inn, Swagger Out." Awesome.

I had Fish and Chips for dinner and mother and I partook in the National Drink of Bermuda, the Rum Swizzle. Bob Hope once said of the Rum Swizzle, "Ah the Rum Swizzle. They not only serve it to tourists, they also use it whenever there's a shortage of airplane fuel. The plane can't really fly, but it an hiccup its way back to the mainland."