We decided to spend a few weekends exploring small towns around London. Our first trips were to Stratford-Upon-Avon, the small town where Shakespeare was born, and Oxford. We wandered the cute towns to see the sights and strolled the river paths that pass through the towns.![]()
Our colleague from work recommend trying the typical British "afternoon tea" in Stratford-Upon-Avon, so we chose a cute 1940s-themed tea house, appropriately named The Fourteas (www.thefourteas.co.uk), to experienced our very first British afternoon tea!
It wasn't anything particularly fancy - white-bread sandwiches with the crust cut off, a few bite-sized deserts, their special blend of 4 teas with milk and sugar, and scones with fresh strawberry jam and clotted cream. It didn't look like much food at first, but it was surprisingly filling! Our favourite part was definitely the scones with jam and clotted cream, since we hadn't had before. The clotted cream tastes something like a cross between unsalted-butter and whipped cream.
Since we enjoyed the afternoon tea experience in Stratford-Upon-Avon, we decided to try "cream tea" in Oxford. "Cream tea" sounds to us like it's just tea with cream in it! Turns out that "cream tea" here actually refers to a "lighter" version of "afternoon tea" - just tea, scones, jam, and clotted cream. We also learned that cream tea is a hot debate topic - what's the "proper" way to eat a cream tea? jam first? or cream first?
Fortunately the Brits have done extensive research to scientifically prove the optimal way to construct your cream tea: Revealed-the-scientific-formula-for-the-perfect-cream-tea. Yay for "science" funding! :)
We also found a cool shop in Oxford called Demi-John where they brew various homemade liqueurs! We poison-tested a few and settled on the Morello Cherry Liquor and the Ginger Wine to take home :) Yum!!
When in England, do as the English do... Pimm's o-clock on the train ride home!
