Afternoon Tea at Harrod's, the British Library, Camden Town take two, and the Borough Market

I've had quite a busy week here in England!  My classes started this week.  The school system is quite different here, but I'll save that for another post! 

On Wednesday, I got to go to Harrod's for afternoon tea!  It was so formal and proper with the servers pulling our chairs out for us, calling us "madam," and saying things like, "here is the green tea for the lady."  The terrace at Harrod's is gorgeous with ornate architecture and a piano player.

They brought a selection of finger sandwiches, little pastries (my favourite was the fruit cake), the best scones ever with clotted cream, jam, and lemon curd, and a Harrod's Trifle.

Afterwards, we looked all around Harrod's.  That place is massive!  They have everything imaginable including: designer baby clothes, formal evening wear, furniture, perfume, and groceries.  My favourite section was the Christmas and holiday area.  There were so many British Christmas items that I was relatively unfamiliar with like Boxing Day chutney.  When I saw a Christmas tea advent calendar, I knew that had to be my souvenir! Each day of December there is a different type of Christmas tea with flavours like Spiced Pumpkin, Candy Man, Gingerbread Man, Silent Night, Sleigh Ride, and Christmas Night.  I also found canned pumpkin for the first time since arriving so I bought a can to make some non-American friends their first pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving!

On Thursday, I went to the movies to watch Box Trolls, which was adorable!  Before the movie started, they showed some British TV commercials, which seemed infinitely nicer than American commercials, mostly because they were wittier. 

On Friday, I went to the British Library, not really knowing too much about it.  Sadly, we weren't allowed to take photos within the galleries.  I saw manuscripts by Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, and many, many others.  There were Bibles and prayer books illuminated by Medieval monks, Indian and Chinese texts, and letters of historical significance.  It was so neat!  There were also a lot of tables and quiet corners so I want to go back to study!

Afterwards, I walked about forty minutes along Regent's Canal and back to Camden Town.  The walk was gorgeous and there are so many options at the stalls on Camden Town that I could just window shop all day!

After Camden Town, I went to Borough Market.  Borough Market is a really nice farmer's market with a ton of options.  Some things were really inexpensive, like the five oranges I bought for a pound.  There were tons of bread and cheese stands, pastries strands, and a Turkish Delight stand.  Turkish Delight always makes me think of Narnia so I had to try it! I got a mix of pomegranate pistachio, orange cream, and cherry.

I have much more to say about my recent adventures, but I have to be up at 5 AM tomorrow so that's all for now.  Check back tomorrow for tales of Canterbury and Dover, plus all the places I am going tomorrow!