The Spa At Norwich Inn

Kim and my 2nd wedding anniversary is coming up soon so we decided to have a little weekend away to celebrate. We went to a hotel just under an hours drive away (convenient!) called the Spa at Norwich Inn. Now this is Nor-Wich in CT not Norrich as the UK pronounces it where I used to live (just to confuse things). No one here seems to know why they say Nor-Wich but Not Green-Wich for Greenwich.

So on Friday once Kim and I were done with work we took the very short drive and checked in.

There was a ‘complimentary’ activity sheet which was quite sweet and kept us occupied.

Luckily we made it just in time for the “wine tasting” AKA drinking wine and eating cheese and grapes, which is just fine by me.

Then we went to check out the spa quickly before dinner, they had a fancy changing room with those electric code locks which no one over the age of 40 seemed to be able to work out.

There was a big vanity area with different products and blow driers etc.

And round the corner they had a big hot tub, steam room and sauna. These were all in the actual changing rooms so they were female/male only, whilst this is convenient for Kim and I, I couldn’t help but think it would be quite inconvenient for all hetero couples.

There was a heated pool, a gym (I didn’t step over the threshold obviously, lest my skin burn), a work out studio and a quiet room with magazines and big comfy chairs in.

Then we had a good dinner and some cocktails.

Now somewhere in the middle of the previous day it had seemed like a good idea to wake up at 6.30am for the ‘complimentary’ morning walk about the grounds.

It seemed like less of a good idea when it was cancelled because it was -7F (-21C) outside and Kim had managed to set fire to the sugar packets accidentally whilst making her coffee.

So in the end we sacked that idea and I took the executive decision to have breakfast at Starbucks, then we made it back in time to do meditation.

Then it all went a bit down hill. The meditation class was packed full and was what Kim would call ‘crunchy hippy’. The woman running it was talking about feeling the “power centres burst forward” and “invite your breaths to come into your lungs”. I started to feel overwhelmingly English and became slightly horrified at “give yourself a hug, thank yourself for being here”…. um… no…. I thought, as I peeked round at about 20 Americans lovingly hugging themselves with their eyes closed. “Take a minute to be inside your own body breathing”…. yeahhh… I’ve been doing just that solidly for about 29 years now, clearly I’m a pro meditator.

After ascertaining that regular meditation sessions are perhaps not for me, we went to get pedicures and Kim got a manicure and spent a gift voucher left over from her birthday (excuse my creepy stubby toes).

Then a spot of lunch and some more spa-ing.

Then we stopped for some afternoon tea which, bless them, they hadn’t got exactly right. The whole hotel had obviously tried to have a bit of an English theme and had called the restaurant the Kensington and the bar area the Ascot (Kim didn’t get it when I asked if we needed to wear a hat). We got very nice scones but they were served with whipped butter and marmalade… hmm… they tried. Also they didn’t have any earl or lady grey tea so I had hot apple cider… still…. why not?

They had a pianist to listen to which was nice.

That night we went for a ‘fancy’ dinner, at the Kensington no less, we got some fancy bread with a selection of fancy butter… fancy.

More cocktails.

And I decided to have some swordfish (which was jolly tasty) because lately I feel as though I am single-handedly diminishing the world’s chicken population. The next day we went to Mohegan Sun, an Indian casino which is literally 5 minutes away from the hotel.

It was pretty big, we only went for a look round because neither Kim or I really enjoy gambling. They’d obviously tried to go with an Indian theme which was nicely done, they even had a robotic wolf that moved it’s head (which is necessary for optimal gambling).

I found some pots in the Indian type shop that were made in the same village ancestry.com said my family is descended from so that was interesting. If all my distant relatives are making these then why am I so shit at art?

Then we mooched around the shops for a bit. The casino had a smoking section and I realised how long it had been since I had been in a building with a smoking and non-smoking section. To make up for this though the casino had strange futuristic toilets that coated the toilet seats with plastic and when you press a button a new layer of protective plastic rotates on! So I played with that for a bit, Americans seem to be deathly afraid that they can catch AIDs or something from a toilet seat and covers pop up everywhere you go out.

And then it was back home to the kitties.

Mrs Bridges And Mr Bar

We started last weekend with a trip to Mrs Bridges Tea Rooms for a bit of afternoon tea.

Sadly Mrs Bridges had run out of all the English stock in their shop, someone had come and cleared them out and they were awaiting a delivery – it was probably for the best as I discovered the English aisle in the Stop & Shop and there is only so much Marmite one can buy.

And the next week started off nicely, I’m settling in well at my new job and Kim went back to work after her vacation time, until Mr Barclay cat came into the house after having what we presume was a fight with another cat.

So I cleaned him off but there was a swelling underneath his ear – we assumed a hematoma so we kept an eye on it only Barclay had other ideas and kept scratching his ear and grooming all the antiseptic ointment off of it, poor old boy. So we kept an eye on him. I made a nice apple crumble this week and also a pumpkin pie using some baking kits we got. I’m glad we had the kits because apparently making pumpkin pie from fresh pumpkin is pretty time consuming (not pictured is the bit of pie I ruined by putting my oven glove in it accidentally!).

Bar’s wound wasn’t really healing very well as he kept scratching it and it was very weepy so we took him to the vets for what was meant to be a drop off appointment only Barcle didn’t behave very well so I had to drive back in early to attend his appointment so he’d let them shave around the area and give him a good clean and some antibiotics. As soon as I got there he switched from demon cat to little angel cat and the vet couldn’t believe it. The vet thinks he has a little abscess from his scrap.

So now he has a little baldy spot but hopefully he won’t have to go back to have the abscess drained.

Pumpkin anyone? pum…kin? Huh.

Mrs Bridges’ Pantry

Getting near the end of stuff we did over Xmas I promise.. so Kim and my Mum and Kim’s Dad took a trip to Mrs Bridges’ Pantry which is a cute tearoom that’s run by an English lady and her American wife (career change?).

I found my future supplier of Marmite and Branston Pickle (albeit pretty expensive!).

There was meant to be a storm on the way but at first it was just a light dusting of snow.

Important to stock up on calories when it’s cold out.

Anyway the storm never came but we did get a little snow which my Mum and I were very excited about (Kim and her Dad less so!) and everywhere looked like a winter wonderland.

The Savoy

  On Thursday we drove up to London and parked near my Great Aunt’s house in Barking. There was a good deal on at the Hilton in Wembley so we dropped our bags off there with an early check in and saw the stadium. We couldn’t find our padlock from last time we were here so they must have cut it off… Rude.

We’d booked to go to the Savoy for afternoon tea, we had to hurry because we were a little late (more on that later!). That shaped hedge below was fake by the way because I gave it a poke.

It was pretty fancy, Kimberly was on her best behaviour (no chewing with her mouth open allowed!) and we got some champagne. There was an American lady behind us who’d gone a little overboard on the fancy and had turned up in a long pink silk dress complete with matching fascinator, bless her.

I got my earl grey tea with lemon and Kimmy had chamomile tea.

Kim even mastered moving tiny sandwiches from the tiered plates to her own using a knife and fork, a vital skill in English life. There was a pianist that played classical versions of modern songs, she was very good. Kim said she thought this would be an easy job and I suggested she go up and give it a go which she declined.

Our scones were so tasty.

And the room was pretty to look round. It had large Art Deco portraits of famous people that visited the Savoy like Alfred Hitchcock and Audrey Hepburn.

After our sandwiches and scones we had some cakes which were beautifully decorated.

And some more… It got to the point where I was full to burst and Kim was speculating whether she could undo the tie on her dress to allow more room.

We were ready for the bill and asked our waiter for it when he said oh no madam, you have the cake course to come. Cake course… We just had the cake course I said, but he informed me that was the pastry course. Oh dear readers we almost died.

We eventually escaped the feeders Savoy to Trafalgar Square where I instructed Kim to keep walking lest I was sick on her. I still think it’s a shame they got rid of all the pigeons, when I was a child my family would visit just to feed the thousands of  pigeons.

My 26th

I realised I never mentioned it was my birthday last week. It was a pretty quiet day because it was the first day of placement (boo) so I spent my day there then at home… so that was deeply thrilling. I don’t really feel older because on the run up to my birthday I kept telling people I was 26 before I even was, this has been going on for at least 2 months… I think I have early onset dementia.

Anyways, before my actual birthday I met up with a couple girls from my cohort and we went for afternoon tea (I know, I know, it’s an obsession), we went to the Georgian House Hotel on St Giles in Norwich.

It was really nice there actually, surprisingly nice. Afternoon tea cost £13.50 and you got unlimited hot drinks, four sandwiches, one cheese scone, one fruit scone (by the way, if you pronounce ‘scone’ as scohhhwwne instead of scon then you’re pretentious AND lame!), one mini victoria sponge cake, a flapjack, a mini lemon meringue AND a super rich chocolate truffle thing.

That is a lot for £13.50 and the staff we were so so attentive, they were really friendly. Also they wrapped up left overs for our sick friend like a swan… awww… you guys.

So yeah that was nice and happy birthday to me, one step closer to death… I mean my thirties. Ho hum.

Two For Tea

My dear pal Crissy is visiting from Australia to get married and have a catch up with everyone so we met up the other day, look what she brought me… chicken flavoured salt… how clement.

As you know I love afternoon tea and we took a little trip out to Biddy’s Tea Room in Norwich.

It was really sweet in there, I loved the décor.

Foolishly, they seated us next to the cakes. We were tempted to pick berries off of the cakes secretly but we resisted.

I got a lavender scone with lemond curd and stilton and apple sandwiches which were so good but Crissy opted for a cheese scone and smoked salmon sandwiches.

They were so goooooood. And it only cost £18.95 for both of us, bargain!

Last day – New York

So I flew back from New York and that meant a long old drive back to JFK to park up, not long because of distance but long because of the insane traffic. It was just gridlock almost the entire way. It was Kim’s birthday too so to say sorry for making her drive to JFK and back and to wish her a happy birthday we went to a spa in New York called Aire Baths. It was all fancyyy. We walked in and got special wristbands that unlocked out lockers where we had a robe and slippers and a towel. There was this attendant there that was hovering over us trying to be helpful (which she was) but it was like having a servant, she even insisted that she squeeze out our swimsuits after and put them in little ziplock bags for us.

I had to steal this photo of the baths cuz I didn’t take my phone in there. There were all different pools, a tepid one, a hot one, two freezing cold ones, a jacuzzi one and a salt water one where you floated. There was also showers and a really big steam room, a warmed marble seating area and curtained areas for massages, candles were absolutely everywhere. We each had a massage, mine was really good and relaxing.

You got two hours in the spa which was just the right time and then we got out and got showered and dressed. All the showers had shampoo and conditioner etc and there were mirrored areas with make up wipes and hair dryers and straighteners. There were even hair brushes you could borrow (um… no.. ) and a swimsuit drainer machine with purple ziplock bags.

So that was really cool, we both left smelling gorgeous and we walked a little way to the Crosby Bar where we had booked afternoon tea. I hadn’t realised other countries never did afternoon tea, the whole bar was English themed.

They had lovely Wedgwood china, Kim got flowering tea and I got Earl Grey.

And we had nice pink tiered plates. It was a lot less formal than afternoon tea at the Goring in London.

But it was still fancy, even the bathrooms looked fancy. Sorry America… rest rooms… they even had a little chair should you wish to rest (ugh… why do they call it this?).

Then we decided to go to ground zero and see the 9/11 monument… which wasn’t really that interesting. If you wanted to read any information or do anything other than look at the fountain you had to pay to go in the museum. There weren’t even many places to sit there so we were only there 5 minutes.

Then I had a lovely long delay on the plane for 4 hours before an overnight flight with a screaming baby… oh joy.

Flowering Tea

So I was watching Marie Antoinette the other day, you know the film of her, not the real thing. And she had flowering tea – tea that had a flower in it that opened in hot water! And I thought why am I here drinking normal tea like a mug (no pun intended) when I could be drinking flowering tea like a headless French queen? I’ll tell you why, it’s because green tea is rank and Marie Antoinette didn’t have Twining’s Earl Grey. But I digress…

So I scoured the internet for some and the other day it came in the post.

They come in little packs and you take the bud out.

Fill with hot water (I don’t usually drink tea from a glass bowl I just thought it’d be better for flower viewing).

And wait…

It’s a flower!!

I got different varieties too.

Very fun to play with… but sadly still green tea so you know… no. I did drink one cup and I guess it was OK but I just would really need a bit of the Earl in there to make things right.

London – Afternoon Tea at the Goring, The Shard & The Tower of London

If you’re visiting England, you’ve got to get afternoon tea, and we decided to go to the Goring Hotel for ours (if it’s good enough for Kate Middleton then it’s good enough for us).

Feast your eyes on this tasty tower of loveliness.

The waitresses were so attentive, as soon as I finished my cup of tea they were there pouring more. As soon as we finished one plate they were there trying to give us more (included in the price too!). We were so stuffed afterwards. The girls next to us ordered another plate of sandwiches, I don’t know how they fit them in!

The next day we went to the Shard, I’m not gonna lie, I thought it was pretty expensive but if you’re going to be a tourist you may as well do it properly.

The view was good, especially on the highest viewing platform.

Then it was off to the Tower of London.

We made a wish at traitors gate, there were lots of Yeomen (Beefeaters) about the place, and ravens.

Kim said this guard wasn’t real… I said I’m pretty sure he was… he was.

The highlight of the trip was the crown jewels. Although they didn’t allow photography… so began my sneaky photography…

This one was especially difficult to take as there was a guard right next to us.

I thought poor Henry here might be having a spot of wishful thinking in his armour… dream on.

I did like the ravens though.

If you’d like to see the previous part of our trip to London, click here.

Fruit Tea

I tried fruit tea today that I got free in the post.

It wasn’t great, don’t be fooled by it’s delicious smell; it tastes like lipgloss. Every now and then I see people drink it and think, oh Hayley, you should really try fruit tea again, give it another chance, it’s healthy.

I did not even attempt the green tea that was also in the freebie pack!