Mila Mrych

I’m not actually the biggest scone fan (just give me ALL the cream), and always drives me mad when places give you heaps of scones as it just feels like such a waste not to eat them all. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Sanderson afternoon tea give you a more manageable two scones each. I don’t know about you, but personally I put the jam on first because if the scones are warm it means the thick clotted cream doesn’t melt.

Next we moved on to the scones whilst sipping on our tea. We adored the tea selection and really struggled with which one to choose as they all sounded so amazing! In the end I went with the Queen of Hearts, which was a berry concoction.

How can they keep a bear in such a small area when they’re used to roaming forests and mountains!? So so cruel. This actually made me cry. He’s basically just stuck on a rock!

The whole experience of visiting Copenhagen Zoo just disappointed me and left me a little depressed and upset. I left feeling so down and deflated. If they don’t have the room for all of these animals, then clearly they need to give some of them to a zoo that does have the room, and then concentrate on just a small collection of animals. The bears were also in a very small enclosure… as you can tell, my brother wasn’t too impressed either…

The only positive was that it was pretty amazing seeing polar bears so close, and they have a tunnel underneath their swimming pool that you can walk through, so it was awesome seeing them swim above you. Scroll down for the photos! I also managed to get a selfie with the polar bear 😉

The Sanderson afternoon tea began with a few really delicious savoury treats. Smoked salmon scotch quails egg with caviar and cream cheese, a Ham and Parmesan Croque-Monsieur, a Cornish crab bridge roll (my fave), and a classic cucumber and cream cheese sandwich on pesto bread.

We met in the hotel lobby and wandered down the Long Bar towards the restaurant entrance. We were a little early for our reservation, and were told our table wasn’t ready. As we had a five-week-old sleeping newborn baby with us (Baby Vinny, who you can see in this post) we wanted to get seated ASAP so we could eat while he was still asleep. The lady showed us to a table outside in the courtyard with a heater near the table, but it was still very cold and poor little Vinny’s face was icy despite him being all bundled up.

It’s been a while since I did an afternoon tea post, since I moved to Sydney I don’t have them very often these days (hello, you can’t have scones with no clotted cream!). When I was back in London over Christmas Shev and I headed to the luxurious and oh-so-trendy Sanderson Hotel in Fitzrovia to experience their Mad Hatters Afternoon Tea. I’m a huge fan of a whimsical afternoon tea, and the Sanderson afternoon tea certainly didn’t disappoint.

This three-and-a-half hour walking tour gives travelers an off-the-beaten glimpse of the city. (It’s a public walking tour, so make sure to reserve in advance.) The guides have an easy-breezy approach that make it seem like you’re being shown around by a friend—expect a good mix of historical, cultural, and, even political info peppered with personal storytelling. Overall, it’s best for people who would rather learn about Lisbon’s modern-day narrative rather than its history or past. You get some of that history, of course, but this tour is meant to show you parts of the city that don’t often land on the mainstream tourist routes, even if you’re only a couple of blocks away.

Lisbon certainly doesn’t lack for stunning plazas, but perhaps the most important—the grandest of them all—is Praça do Comércio. Before the earthquake of 1755, it was here where one found the royal palace. Today, with its sunflower yellow buildings, arcades, and commanding statue of Dom José I, the aura is just as majestic. Envisioned as a gateway to the New World, the vibrant transportation hub has a ferry terminal on one side and trams whizzing by on the other, so it’s easy to weave into packed itineraries. This is an ideal place to kick off any Lisbon adventure: It doesn’t take long to wander through the square, but one immediately feels its powerful personality and thrilling history.