Bonjour, Jasmine!: Meet Me at The Savoy

I'm never, never, never tired of romping,
And stomping with you at the Savoy.

-- Ella Fitzgerald "Stompin' at the Savoy"

NOTES

I know I've been quiet on the blogging front lately, but I intend to blame it squarely on the weather, the comfort of a soft bed and the invention of the TV-watching apps on iPhone. Well, the good news is I finally finished editing the last of my London photos, and was attempting to post 'em all in one blogpost ... but 90 photos in one post is just a bit too much (LOL). Anyway, here's one half, my first day in London, beginning with hectic registering and unpacking at the hotel. I totally adore the abundance of teas in English hotels, there were at least five different kinds available in my room, replenished every day and came complete with tea-making facilities, tea sets and Scottish shortbread to go along. After enduring the 12-hour flight and a 45-minute queue at Heathrow, needless to say I had a few cuppas first thing upon checking in to perk me up and fortify against the unseasonably cold London weather.

我知道我最近在部落格上簡直神隱了，不過這種事都是天氣、軟綿綿的被窩還有手機看劇app的錯啦（指）。Anyway，這幾天終於把剩下的倫敦行照片整理完了簡直可喜可賀 T︿T ～原本打算一次過一篇po完，但是覺得一篇文章90幾張照片也太over XDD 總之，先來一半吧！這是抵達倫敦第一天的照片，一開始就是入住酒店跟匆忙翻開行李。我太愛英國酒店提供很多茶這件事，我住的房裡至少有五種不同的茶葉，每天都會有人補充，還備有完整的泡茶工具、茶具跟配茶的蘇格蘭餅。經過12小時的連續飛行跟在倫敦機場熬過了45分鐘的排隊，進房第一件事當然是泡幾杯熱茶醒神一下，順便在倫敦五月尾不合時宜的十度氣溫中給自己暖和一下。

Ah, first stop, tea at the Savoy! It was on my bucket list ever since the trip was confirmed. I have come across the storied hotel in so many works of literature and cinema that I had to savour the experience myself (the title of this post is, in fact, the name of a book written in 1952 by Jean Nicol). I brought along my Pazzo white dress with a black floral appliqué neckline for the occasion, something elegant without being overly mature or girlish. To my dismay the material was too easily wrinkled and even more so after being crammed into an overpacked luggage on a 12-hour flight. There wasn't even time to press it as our tea appointment at the Savoy was in about an hour after I finished unpacking, and God knows how long it would take us to get through the noon traffic in central London to reach the Strand. We made it to the Savoy in the nick of time (barely), but suffice it to say, the lack of outfit photos at the hotel was partly due to the unbecoming wrinkles plaguing my little white dress (sob).

第一站，Savoy酒店下午茶！因為有好多外國文學作品跟電影都提及這家傳奇酒店，所以對它憧憬滿滿，英國行確定時就放到口袋名單裡了（另外本篇標題「Meet Me at the Savoy」其實是一本寫於1952年的書的書名，作者Jean Nicol）。為此行帶了買很久少穿的Pazzo小白裙（？），短洋裝加上黑色立體花領口不至於過分成熟或稚氣。然而不幸的是這件洋裝的材質太容易皺了，尤其塞在行李箱裡度過12小時的長途飛行後更變本加厲 ||| orz 而且在酒店房間裡收拾好後已經沒有時間把它燙平了，畢竟離下午茶預約時間僅有一小時，還不知道熬過倫敦中心的中午塞車時段需要多久時間。最後我們算準時趕上了下午茶，但洋裝實穿照極少的一大原因絕對是因為衣服太皺了（淚）。

＊　Freshly baked raisin and plain scones

The traditional afternoon tea at the Savoy takes place at its iconic Thames Foyer, with a wrought-iron gazebo centrepiece underneath an intricate stained-glass cupola. There is a choice of sweet or savoury afternoon tea, the latter which I chose had the patisserie replaced with a smoked salmon course. The scones were okay at best to my taste, but the finger sandwiches were absolutely delish -- spiced Wiltshire maple bone ham, coronation chicken on olive bread, Scottish smoked and poached salmon with dill mustard, egg salad with watercress, cucumber with fine herbs and tomato cream cheese. I enjoyed them so much that I alone devoured three (!) servings of the sandwiches, and for those of you who have doubts, that was altogether 15 sandwiches not including the scones, the savoury course of smoked salmon and poached egg on melba toast and the signature cakes. Of course I was hardly able to move when all was eaten and done, but I did wade far enough to have a picture taken at the beautiful powder room of the Savoy. To cap off the memorable afternoon, I bought a few delicate desserts and teas at the Savoy tea shop, the former for relishing in the middle of the night, the latter to be brought back and savoured in leisure as I sat at home recalling the day I had tea at the same place as Claude Monet, Winston Churchill and Audrey Hepburn.

Savoy的下午茶是辦在有名的Thames Foyer，在精緻的花窗玻璃穹頂下有個裝飾的雕花鑄鐵涼亭。下午茶方面有甜點跟咸點可選，咸點的話是把甜點的部分換成一道煙燻鮭魚，對於大量甜點很快就膩的我簡直是一大喜訊。這家scone的部分其實一般般，但是三明治我覺得好好吃 -- 有楓糖醃漬維爾特郡火腿、咖哩白醬雞肉佐橄欖麵包、蘇格蘭燻鮭魚佐蒔蘿芥末、蛋沙拉配西洋菜以及小黃瓜搭香草料跟番茄起司等五種口味。三明治我一個人就吃下了三份（！），是的不用懷疑，就是總共吃掉了15個三明治，還不抱括前面的scone、接下來的咸點煙燻鮭魚佐水波蛋跟薄脆麵包以及最後的招牌蛋糕。不用說，等到吃完喝完的時候我根本是飽到快動不了的狀態，不過依然堅持爬到人家美麗的廁所（倒數第四張）拍一張 XDD 離開前不忘去Savoy Tea裡面買幾個小甜點跟罐裝茶葉，前者以備半夜餓了的不時之需 :P 後者則帶回去等某天在家裡悠閒品嘗，順便回憶那天在莫內、邱吉爾以及奧黛莉 ‧ 赫本都待過的華麗空間裡的一場美味英式下午茶 ; )