As Vivien and I headed in the direction of the Metro she recommended we stop for a cup of tea/coffee at a cafe she knew: Cafe 1901. It was a great place, the old church hall of Jesmond Methodist Church. In fact, when I went to the loos, the arrows pointed to toilets in one direction, to the santuary in the other.
It was so warm that day that I decided to shock the staff and not have coffee or hot tea, but to try to have some iced tea.
One simply doesn't find iced tea on a menu in Britain, unless it comes in a can with the most disgusting sweetener and something Lipton apparently thinks can pass for lemon flavour.
So, I asked for a tall glass of ice, a cup of hot black tea and some lemon. I said I would be careful, but if I broke the glass with the hot liquid I would of course pay for it.
The glass didn't break, but it did melt all the ice and so only the first glass of tea was really cool and really, well, my cup of tea. Never mind, it was delicious and I continued to drink tepid to warm lemon flavoured tea during our visit there.
Vivien was telling me about the Mediterranean cruise she and her husband were about to take and about her preparations for it. She had a plan for clothes shopping that had worked well, she thought.
Since we were in the vicinity anyhow and since she seemed in quite an adventurous mood, I showed her a couple of shops I have only once visited in the past: Jules B and their subsidiary The Conservatory. I even tried on a couple of amazing dresses in the latter, though I didn't buy either. It was really great looking through all the incredible clothes and I was impressed at how friendly the sales staff were. As I'm no longer at work in a professional position, I've no reason to spend the sort of money one would have to in Jules B. If I ever feel wealthy again, mind, I would consider buying something special at The Conservatory.
"If" is an awfully big word for just two letters though, isn't it?
3 comments:
What a wonderful cafe! I'll bet all the food tastes better just because you are in such a beautiful place. I'm glad you got at least one decent glass of iced tea. It's interesting how quickly you start taking god iced tea for granted. (It's hard to believe I have only been in Oklahoma for a year and a half.) Thanks for the great pictures.
How curious that tea is never iced there. I have to agree though about the canned stuff. I cannot drink it. Are you hinting at something with this "if"?
Lovely building; reminds me a little of a cafe in a church in Cambridge which I love.
Is it true, you really can't get iced tea in England? Never thought about that.
As for 'If', huge word. Huge.
Sorry for long bloggy absence; very strange 2012 for me and not sure where I'm headed next ;)
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