April 16, 2017 - Gianna's 13th Birthday Trip to London - Day 5 - Easter Sunday at the Chesterfield and Facts about The Chesterfield Mayfair

Elisa's Daily Scoop
CURRENTLY TRAVELING IN:
​LONDON ENGLAND

Easter Afternoon Tea at the Chesterfield

Happy Easter!  What a lovely day I woke up to this morning!  Sunshine and blue skies!  Just the perfect day for Easter!

I feel like it is fate that there is an adorable church on the corner of where we are staying this trip, being that we were spending Easter in London.

ST. SAVIOUR'S CHURCH, PIMLICO LONDON WHERE WE ATTENDED EASTER SUNDAY MASS TODAY (c) travelincousins.com

Kelsey and I stumbled upon this church when we were taking a walk the first morning we were here.

I took notice of the mass schedule for Easter and included it in our plan for today.

QUICK RANT...
I know it's Easter and all, but folks, I need to do a quick venting.

Remember how I told you that I had a mini meltdown yesterday while on our way to Covent Garden to see Mamma Mia?

Well, a big part of the reason I flipped was because I had become so frustrated with my kids.  I look at their lives - their health, the material possessions, a mom who is completely devoted to their every freaking need, the experiences I give them and honestly, I only ask for two timings:  RESPECT and CONSIDERATION.  

I mean, I understand that those two things include much, BUT... this whole trip was planned with them in mind...from the extra comfort flying to the time we flew, to the tons of afternoon tea reservations and down to the minimal number of sights and activities that were planned each day.

However, I've grown a bit tired of the attitude of entitlement on this trip.  As if my needs and wants are incidental to their little spoiled lifestyle.

My single request while traveling is that we leave ON TIME!!! They are able to rest and be on those damn electronics the entire time we are in the apartment.  They have them while we are roaming around to watch whatever nonsense they deem "valuable" and they are able to hit their social media pages and interact with their friends back home.

So, when I give a day's notice to them about what time they need to be up and ready to leave...AND REPEAT IT 20 TIMES ... I have the expectation that it will happen that way!

But, for the second day in a row, my daughter Gianna refused to get up early, even though I was waking her up for an hour prior to "having" to get her butt out of the bed.

Anyway - in the  end, we made it to mass on time, but, I was annoyed that I can't get a little cooperation from the start without yelling and getting myself upset.  Then, I'm told how "You're always in a bad mood."  ugh - kids.

INSIDE ST. SAVIOUR'S CHURCH (c) travelincousins.com

The inside of the St. Savior's Church was absolutely lovely.  It was small and cozy and had cushions for kneelers.

Arriving early (can you believe it!!), we listened to the choir rehearse.  As the small church filled with people, the mass began.  We also got to witness an adult baptism, which was very touching.

The service differed from U.S. Catholic services in much of the specific "wording" of the mass prayers and responses, as well as the Communion service, which consisted of walking up to a communal pew, kneeling and receiving the Eucharist and wine from the priests who walked left and right to the kneeling attendees.

The choir was absolutely angelic and since a great many of the prayers were "chanted" it was so relaxing and meditative to me.

I'm so happy we had the chance to experience an Easter mass celebration in London during this trip!

I NEED YOUR CONGRATS!!!
Today, we did not get lost!!!

After mass and a quick pop back to the apartment (for Gianna to change her shoes), we decided to take the bus to our Afternoon Tea at the Chesterfield Hotel Mayfair. 

We made it to the bus stop without a hitch and then got off the CORRECT stop at the London Hilton Hotel and walked assuredly to the Chesterfield!! Yay - there is hope for Elisa with the help of Google Maps!

Let me tell you - the area of Mayfair is really quite beautiful - full of exquisite homes with quintessential architecture. 

ON THE #2 BUS - SMOOTH SAILING TODAY GETTING AROUND LONDON - DID NOT GET LOST!! (c) travelincousins.com

Mayfair is an exclusive area of West London, by the east edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster. 

The district is now mainly commercial, with many former homes converted into offices for major corporate headquarters, embassies, and also hedge funds and real estate businesses.

ONE OF THE LOVELY BLOCKS WE WALKED ALONG IN MAYFAIR (c) travelincousins.com

In fact, we passed a few of the embassies along our walk including the Embassy of Saudi Arabia, London, The Embassy of Myanmar (Burma), London and The High Commission of The Bahamas, London.

THE CHESTERFIELD MAYFAIR
​Charlie and the Chesterfield Afternoon Tea

THE CHESTERFIELD HOTEL, MAYFAIR, LONDON (c) travelincousins.com

WE ARRIVED PRECISELY AT 12:30 - THE TIME OF OUR RESERVATION!! (c) travelincousins.com

This hotel was absolutely quaint and beautiful!

​The Chesterfield Hotel, named after its proximity to Chesterfield Hill, which in turn was named after Philip Dormer Stanhope [1694-1773] 4th Earl of Chesterfield, statesman and man of letters, whose great mansion stood in South Audley Street.

(c) travelincousins.com

The atrium room that Afternoon Tea was serviced was absolutely lovely, relaxing and more than I had imagined.  With live piano music played throughout - so many great standards from the 40's - the atmosphere was so perfect and rather romantic, even if it was a Willy Wonka theme!

BEAUTIFUL ROOM FOR AFTERNOON TEA AT THE CHESTERFIELD (c) travelincousins.com

ME AND MY GIRLS AT CHARLIE AND THE CHESTERFIELD AFTERNOON TEA (c) travelincousins.com

(c) travelincousins.com

Pictured below is the photo that convinced me to book our Easter Sunday tea at the Chesterfield!
Tell me you would have been able to resist such a yummy preview of this experience!

(credit; chesterfieldmayfair.com)

Our wait staff was truly delightful, with Edgar Serra Pou, Assistant Food and Beverage Manager, attending to us quite consistently, along with his professional staff!

The three-tiered array of finger sandwiches, scones and sweet delights was attacked pretty instantaneously upon arrival!  The food was impeccably served and tasted just as magnificent!

Before any of the food or beverages arrived, we were served "Fizzy Lift" which was oh, so sweet!

Kelsey and I indulged in a rather large Chocolate Milk Shake prior to the goodies and tea!  Yum!
​You know my addiction to chocolate and I needed my fix!

CHOCOLATE MILK SHAKES FOR ME AND KELSEY - CAN YOU SAY SUGAR RUSH? (c) travelincousins.com

With an amazing array of teas to choose from - Black, Oolong, Green, White, Scented, Flowering and Infusion, we decided upon two black and one white.

* The Chesterfield Afternoon Blend
A superior blend of malty Assam, high grade Ceylon and second flush, Single Estate Darjeeling. The tea is malty, rich and rounded with notes of fruit and spice (Black Tea).
VERY TRADITIONAL TASTING.

* Willy Wonka Tea
Specially blended for The Chesterfield Mayfair, two smooth, soft, dark teas from China blended with high grade cocoa nibs to give a sophisticated depth and a lingering sweet aftertaste. (Black Tea)
THIS ONE WAS INCREDIBLE!!

* Silver Needle
Only the plump young tea buds are handpicked from the gardens of Fujian. Covered in soft silvery hairs, this is a light and delicate tea with the mildest hint of melon.  (White Tea) 
RECOMMENDED BY EDGAR AND WE ADORED THE TASTE!

WILLY WONKA TEA BEING POURED INTO MY CUP FIRST!! (c) travelincousins.com

OUR TEA SELECTION (c) travelincousins.com

And how about a view into the
tasty tier of treats we enjoyed...

TOP TIER OF DESSERTS (c) travelincousins.com

BOTTOM TIER WITH FINGER SANDWICHES (c) travelincousins.com

(c) travelincosins.com

FIZZY LIFT CUPCAKE (c) travelincousins.com

BUBBLE GUM ECLAIR - SO GOOD! (c) travelincousins.com

And guess who made an appearance?? 
​Mr. Wonka himself!!!

HELLO MR. WONKA! (c) travelincousins.com

(c) travelincousins.com

HOLDING A TIN OF EVERLASTING GOB STOPPERS (c) travelincousins.com

Well, once again, Gianna was enjoying taking annoying pictures at my expense.  And then of course, she was showing Kelsey how many comments she got on her Snapchat for posting me Vlogging at the table.  

COULD THIS KID TAKE A MORE UNFLATTERING PICTURE OF HER MOTHER?? (c) travelincousins.com

I'M GETTING ANNOYED BUT HOLDING IN MY LAUGHTER (c) travelincousins.com

ENOUGH!! (c) travelincousins.com

A big Thanks to Kelsey for her editing skills with this video below!!
As I had mentioned - I didn't think I'd have time to edit, but this kid does it quickly and with such ease!

GIANNA SHOWING OFF THE LIKES ON HER SNAP CHAT AFTER POSTING HER VIDEO OF ME VLOGGING AT THE TABLE (c) travelincousins.com

We made it back to our apartment unscathed and without getting lost - I'm getting the hang of this city and the transit system!

The rest of our day was going to be mellow as we are scheduled to catch an 8am train tomorrow to Paris! Yay!

It was a breeze packing a few things for one night, for which we are traveling extremely light!

My dad has been following our blog and texted this to me today:

"Happy Easter.  You guys look like you're having a great time.  Keep sending these pictures.  I see that all your activities center around food LOL"

And how true this is.  Tomorrow, in addition to visiting Le Tour Eiffel, we will be eating crèpes and some to her great French Food!!

Stay tuned!!

Hope your are having a Blessed Easter!!
-E
xoxo

Tanya's Daily Scoop
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 1 DAY

Venice, California and Easter prep

HAPPY EASTER!!

Good Day everyone.
Today my blog is going to be on the fairly short side as we are just about to kick off the family Easter festivities which will include:

• Easter Basket Surprises
• A fun Easter Egg Hunt
• Our Annual Easter Family Photoshoot
• Lunch reservations
• A visit to the Gardens

And

• A DELICIOUS Italian Family Dinner 

Depending on how long you have been following Elisa and I here at Travelin' Cousins you know just how much we LOVE to travel!

What you may or may not realize is that based on the dates that this trip was planned (over Easter) is the ONLY reason that the kids and I aren't already over there along side our cousins.

I've always committed to spending Easter & Christmas with the fam bam - my mummy, sisters, brother and sweet wee little nieces.

So just like you, I am here reading and following along to all of the fun that is happening with Elisa and the girls in Merry 'ol London!

And boy oh boy do I LOVE Afternoon Tea ❤️❤️❤️
In fact that is the very first thing that we'll be doing together once my gang arrives.

I'm pretty sure that Elisa and the girls are finding the same fondness for Afternoon Tea time that I have as they have been trying out a variety of different venues.

Today they had tea at The Chesterfield Mayfair, and boy do Elisa's pictures do a good job at sharing her experience with us. Just take a look at all of those yummies!

How about a little HISTORY about The Chesterfield Mayfair?

According to their own website:

• A rich heritage in the heart of Mayfair Charles Street, Berkeley Square, occupies part of the lawns of old Berkeley House, the London mansion of that fierce old cavalier Lord Berkeley of Stratton, who during the civil war between Charles I and Parliament, distinguished himself as 'the hero of Stratton fight'.
• Soon after the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, Lord Berkeley was rewarded by Charles II for his loyalty to the Crown with an extensive parcel of land to the north of Piccadilly on which he constructed for himself a great house.
• The land was afterwards developed by his widow. This street, which first appears in the rate-books in the 1740s, was named after Charles, Lord Falmouth, Lord Berkeley's brother. For two hundred years until the outbreak of the Second World War these houses in Charles Street were 'the abode of rank and fashion'.
• No.34 was originally the home of the Misses Davenport, who lived here by 1749. The house continued to accommodate a series of aristocratic spinsters and dowagers until acquired about 1799 by the 5th Earl of Tankerville [1776-1859] who sat in Parliament for a number of constituencies. He was an enthusiastic cricketer and a keen natural historian. He filled this house with his collection of fossils and shells.
• By 1815 No.34 had become the home of Major James Cunningham. He was one of that small but heroic band which, against overwhelming odds, managed to forcibly shut the outer gate of the farmhouse at La Haye Saint during the Battle of Waterloo - thus prompting his wife to remark that he was 'the first and last Cunningham ever to shut a door'.
• The next occupant of note, here by 1846, was Admiral John Douglas who had entered the Royal Navy as a midshipman and won a reputation for himself [and the notice of his superiors] by swimming around the various vessels of the fleet carrying messages. About 1856 Douglas was succeeded by Sir Robert Nigel Kingscote M.P. whose family continued at No.34 until about 1898 when it passed to Colonel [afterwards Major-General] Villiers Hatton [1852-1914].
• Hatton commanded the 15t battalion Grenadier Guards in the Nile Expedition of 1898 and was present at the battle of Khartoum which finally broke the hold of the followers of the 'Mad' Mahdi. Villier's widow was still living at No.34 as late as 1942. No.35 Charles Street began life about 1748 as the London town-house of the Perceval family, Earls of Egmont. Lady Elizabeth Perceval was still occupying it in 1824.
• The next occupant was Miss Walpole, a kinswoman of Sir Robert Walpole, sometimes called 'Britain's first Prime Minister'.
• We have some idea of the cost of these houses in Miss Walpole's day because in 1835 that witty clergyman, the Rev. Sydney Smith, bought the property two doors down at No.33, where on 8 April 1815 Lady Margaret Fitzgerald had burned to death. He wrote to a friend: 'I have bought a house in Charles Street, Berkeley Square, lease for fourteen years for £1,400 [about £60,000 in modern money] and £10 per annum ground rent.'
• These houses were popular with members of parliament, and in 1857 No.35 was the home of Richard Heneage, M.P. for Lincoln.
• By 1861 Heneage had sold on to Major-General Robert Wood 45, who with his wife, Constantia 29, lived here in imperial splendour, attended by a footman, a housekeeper, two housemaids, a kitchen-maid, a nursemaid for the children, a school-room maid, and a ladies' -rnaid for Constantia, all under the charge of the butler, George Haynes 41.
• About 1909 No.35 was purchased by Sir George Herbert Duckworth [1868-1934] best remembered today as Secretary to the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments.
• In 1936 his former home was occupied by Martin de Selincourt [1864-1950] chairman of Selincourt & Sons, 'cloth, silk merchants and furriers'. A keen traveller and yachtsman, and a some-time chairman of the Geographical Magazine, Martin de Selincourt was also a director of Swan & Edgar, the department store situated at the junction of Piccadilly and Regent Street. It was at Swan & Edgar that Ethel Le Neve, the mistress of the wife-poisoner, Dr. Harvey Hawley Crippen, purchased the bright red dress that first aroused the suspicions of the victim's friends that she might have been murdered.
• No.36 Charles Street was once the home of that Regency dandy, Lord Petersham, who gave his name to a type of silk ribbon and an overcoat. He popularised the wearing of Cossack trousers and owned a different snuff-box for every day of the year. Gronow in his Reminiscences stated: 'I heard him, on the occasion of a delightful old light-blue Sevres box he was using being admired, say, in his lisping way - "Yes, it is a nice summer box, but would not do for winter wear". He was greatly devoted to the colour brown which was apparently caused by his having been desperately in love with a very beautiful widow of that name. In addition to his other eccentricities he never ventured out of doors before 6 p.m.
• From about 1809 No.36 was the London town-house of David Ker, Member of Parliament for Downpatrick in Ireland, and his wife, Lady Selina, a daughter of the 151 Marquis of Londonderry. By 1831 it had passed to their son, David Stewart Ker, who also sat in Parliament for Downpatrick, although he was very far from being a gentleman. On Friday 30 May 1844, aged twenty-eight, he found himself in the dock at Bow Street Police Court charged with having used 'indecent and obscene language' in a tobacconist's shop to which he and a friend had repaired about ten o'clock at night, both very drunk, in search of an 'after-dinner cigar', turning nasty when none of those presented to him found favour.
• About 1864 No.36 became the home of Lady Louisa Cornwallis 65 and her sister, Lady Elizabeth 59, granddaughters of the 151 Marquis Cornwallis whose surrender along with seven thousand of his men to George Washington at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781 brought an end to the American War of Independence. These two elderly aristocratic spinsters were cared for by a live-in staff of nine. When Lady Louisa died at No.36 aged seventy-one in July 1872 she left a fortune of £90,000, the equivalent in millennium money to perhaps £4m, including £1,000 to her ladies' maid and £500 to her housemaid, sums which would have represented to them untold wealth.
• By 1895 No.36 had become the home of Elizabeth, Dowager Countess of Carnarvon, the mother of the 5th Earl [1866-1923], the famous Egyptologist, who must have known this house well. In 1903 the " Earl wintered in Egypt where he began a long collaboration with Howard Carter which culminated in 1922 with the discovery in the Valley of the Kings near Thebes of the tomb of King Tutankhamen.
• About 1900 No.36 Charles Street was acquired by another famous resident, Sir William Harcourt [1827-1904]. As Chancellor of the Exchequer, Harcourt was responsible in 1894 for introducing death duties into the British tax system.
• From about 1940 all three properties disappear from the London Post Office directories. We know from other sources that No.34 was opened in 1943 by Clementine Churchill, the wife of the Prime Minister, as a club for visiting American and Dominion forces. During the years of austerity post-war, when large houses such as these were almost impossible to let or to sell, all three seem to have been occupied at different times and in varying degrees by the Institute for British-American Understanding, an offshoot of the English-Speaking Union which occupied premises adjacent. [One wonders whether those who congregated here during these years were aware that No.36 had formerly been the home of the descendants of Lord Cornwallis, who during the American War of Independence had done so much to disrupt British-American relations.]
• Today, all three properties form the Chesterfield Hotel, named after its proximity to Chesterfield Hill, which in turn was named after Philip Dormer Stanhope [1694-1773] 4th Earl of Chesterfield, statesman and man of letters, whose great mansion stood in South Audley Street.
• As an afterthought, it is worth remembering another inhabitant of this site, the beautiful and witty actress, Mrs Dorothea Jordan [1762-1816] who afterwards lived elsewhere in Charles Street. She was the mistress of the future William IV, by whom she produced ten children in as many years. When William endeavoured to reduce her allowance, Dorothea quietly handed him a slip of paper which at that date was attached to all play-bills. It read: 'No money refunded after the rising of the curtain'. 

I would say that is quite a rich history indeed!!

​Since we are 8 hours behind London time I will be sharing a recap of our Easter with you tomorrow before we head out to catch our flight.

As for now I'll tell you a bit about yesterday and how we barely made it as we were luckily able to help the Easter Bunny out...

After much prep and a morning full of errands, it was finally time for Dave and I to head out to Santa Monica and Venice.
Although we still had a couple of hours before our dinner reservations by the time of our arrival both Dave and I were absolutely famished.

We were so glad that our "stop" was only a few doors down from our favorite little Sunny Blue. We could barely think straight, but knew that we should go pick up the few things needed to help the Easter bunny out before settling our growling stomaches.

Lucky that we did that - because as we walked into the sought out speciality store at 5:59:30 PM Dave had noticed that the store closed at 6PM!!

Oh goodness I can't tell you how disappointed I would have been if we arrived a minute later.

Not only that but as we were chatting with the owner we found out that not only was the store closing it's doors for the day at 6PM but also for good! These were the last minutes of this stores existence! 

WHEW - that was a close call.

Next up as you could expect was for grab a quite bite at Sunny Blue - you know to hold us over until dinner... We had just to!

And since these yummy morsels are handhelds and potentially messy and since I am totally obsessed with my new lip colors - I did a little smudge test...

And once we were done we really still had plenty of time before our reservations, but at the same time not enough time to take care of any more errands (since traffic was so bad), so we decided to go check out the scene at Venice Beach.

Although I have been to Venice Beach for work (on a film set) and also to visit a friend. I had not ever actually came to visit Venice Beach and to tell you the truth - it was quite interesting and I really don't think I'll be going back.

Dinner was next at the pop-up Arata.

And everything was quite lovely!

We ordered plenty, but then filled up quicker than expected (since we had already started at Sunny Blue lol).
So when our waiter forgot to ever deliver one of the dishes that we ordered - it was A-OK with us since I was already getting full.

​But Dave made sure that he saved room for a yummy piece of Chocolate Cake!

After dinner we were back at it with assisting the Easter bunny. Before finally calling it a night.

And now it's time to get on with all the family festivities.

I'll be bopping in here to give you the full recap before we head to the airport for the LONG flight over to London-town!!!

Much love,
-T