Through the Looking Glass

Through the looking glass we go,
Searching for the way things used to be.

-- Wonderland "Through the Looking Glass"

NOTES

    Ah, perhaps the last post of my London adventure. On the third day of my London stay, we headed to the beautiful Natural History Museum down South Kensington. The ornate architecture is an attraction in itself, not to mention the tens of thousands of rare specimens housed within its four wings, the most famous being, of course, the gigantic Diplodocus skeleton replica in the central hall affectionately nicknamed "Dippy". We had a leisurely yet informative time strolling along the Romanesque corridors learning about the geological components of the Earth, experiencing volcano and earthquake simulations, admiring the utterly lifelike taxidermied specimens and generally being disconcerted by the roaring and moving dinosaurs occupying the paleontology zone.

    噢～總算來到倫敦穿搭筆記的尾聲啦。在倫敦的第三天我們去了南肯辛頓的大英自然史博物館。博物館本身華麗的建築就是個景點了，更別用說裡面四個大分區裡收藏的成千上萬的稀有標本。當中最有名的鎮館之寶當屬中央大廳裡暱稱為 "Dippy" 的巨型梁龍模型吧！一整個上午走在各個美麗的羅馬式長廊裡，用閒晃的方式學習地球的地質組成、體驗了火山爆發及地震的模擬實驗、欣賞了栩栩如生的各種動物標本以及被古生物展示區裡的會動會吼的仿真恐龍搞到心裡略毛毛的 XDD

    Afternoon had me literally skipping on my way to the Sanderson for a very unique tea experience. The Mad Hatter's Tea held in the courtyard garden of the hotel has the rather self-explanatory theme of Alice in Wonderland, where you'll find menus hidden in old books, sugar cubes in music boxes, crockery and cake trays adorned with matching fanciful prints. For the occasion, I wore the Les Néréides N2 Alice in Wonderland necklace and brought along my trusty blue mouse to add to the whimsy. The food, too, echoed the playful theme, with carrot meringues and strawberry toadstool marshmallows hidden in tufts of grass, the Queen of Hearts and the White Rabbit's pocketwatch in your cakes, a drinkable 　passion fruit pudding and cake that you sip from a potion bottle tied with a "Drink Me" label and a colourful selection of savouries and scones to satisfy your salt cravings. A table of fruit jellies awaits after you have had your fill of cakes and pastries. Yet to me, the highlight of this experience was the tea itself, with a rather unorthodox selection of "Rhubarb and Custard", "Mint Choc Chip", "Strawberries and Cream" and "Apple Pie" flavours. Each one of them was utterly delicious and flavourful, I was sorely tempted to buy one of every flavour until the waitress told me "No, we do not sell them" (sob). As I emerged "from the rabbit hole" like Alice, I felt as if the magic lingered in the air, as if a talking white rabbit would, anytime now, rushed you by with a pocketwatch in tow, scurrying into the busy traffic of Oxford Street. Or I probably just had too much tea.

    下午帶著雀躍的心情來到了桑德森酒店，準備來一場特別的下午茶。這場Mad Hatter's Tea是辦在酒店的開放式庭園裡（當天有點飄雨所以有用透明布簾擋著），是個以愛麗絲夢遊仙境為主題的充滿驚喜的午茶。你會發現菜單藏在舊書本裡，方糖收在音樂盒中，杯子跟碟子們的印花可以拼成一個完整的童趣的圖案。於是我特地戴了Les Néréides N2的愛麗絲項鍊應景，還拎了個童趣的藍色小老鼠包 XDD  餐點方面一樣充滿愛麗絲童話的元素，最上層的杯子裡有蘿蔔蛋白糖霜餅跟草莓蘑菇棉花糖在草叢裡跟你玩躲貓貓，蛋糕中可以遇見紅心皇后跟白兔的懷表。盤子上還有一個標著＂飲我＂的小藥瓶，裡面是可以吸食的百香果布丁蛋糕，最下層滿滿五顏六色的三明治、鹹派和司康餅來滿足鹹點愛好者的口味。這些都吃完後，還有一整桌的各色果凍等著你。然而對我來說，最驚豔的是他們的獨家調製茶，雖然是一些有別於傳統的口味，比如＂大黃卡士達＂、＂薄荷巧克力碎片＂、＂草莓鮮奶油＂和＂蘋果派＂，但每一種都超好喝也有符合名字的獨特香味。當時超想每種口味都買回家，結果服務員告訴我他們家的茶是不賣的  (T︿T)   不過當我從那個＂兔洞＂走出來時，總覺得空氣裡依然停留著奇幻的喜悅，彷彿隨時會有隻手托懷錶的兔子先生從你眼前擦肩而過然後消失在對面牛津街的匆匆人潮裡（大約是我茶喝多了的妄想 ; )

Bises! ♥♥