Posted on
Baglioni Hotel
April has been another busy month which has involved some delicious scone eating in London, Birmingham and Exeter and saw me trying scones with nutella, I will give you my verdict about that shortly.
Posted on
The Theatre
Recently I was lucky enough to attend one of the rare behind the scenes history tours of Alexandra Palace. Named after Alexandra, Edward VII's wife, and affectionally known as Ally Pally. The original building sadly burnt down just sixteen days after it opened.
Posted on
On Christmas Eve, 24th December 1914 Agatha Miller married Archie Christie, her first husband, at Emmanuel Church, Guthrie Road, Clifton, Bristol. On a recent visit to the city I did a bit of research to identify the location of the church only to discover, like in all good detective novels, that things were not as they first appeared to be.
Posted on
The Andaz Hotel has been on my must do list for ages (for fascinating reasons listed in the blog title) and a couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of going there with the delightful Helen Langley. The hotel's 1901 Restaurant, where afternoon tea is served, certainly has the wow factor and it was orginally built as the hotel's ballroom.
Posted on
On Good Friday hot cross buns are distributed in the churchyard of St Bartholomew the Great. The ceremony known as the Butterworth Charity, was named after Joshua Whitehead Butterworth who created the trust in 1887. It was set up to provide the sum of six pence to twenty one needy widows in the parish and buns were to be handed out to children who attended the distribution. With the understanding that nowadays anyone who attends can have a hot cross bun I went to investigate further.
Posted on
This month's scone blog saw me making a return visit to To A Tea. To my deep shame as a City Guide, I have to confess to only recently discovering this delightful tea emporium in the City of London but it has quickly become one of my favourite tearooms. 
Posted on
Two Temple Place was built for William Waldorf Astor, one of the richest men in the world, and today it is owned by the Bulldog Trust charity. Since 2012 it has opened its doors for a free annual exhibition. With this also comes the wonderful opportunity to visit one of the most splendid buildings in London, a magnificent Victorian house.
Posted on
Cinderella the live action film opens in cinemas on 27 March 2015 and to celebrate the occasion the official and free Cinderella The Exhibition has opened in Leicester Square, featuring over 100 props and 30 costumes designed by the Academy Award-winning costume designer Sandy Powell. Tickets can be booked online at no cost. The exhibition is presented by Swarovski and is only on until Friday 10 April 2015.
Posted on
Old Swan Hotel - Harrogate
Earlier this month I fulfilled my long standing wish to stay at the Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate which has connections with the mysterious disappearance of Agatha Christie, the Queen of Crime.
On the evening of 3rd December 1926 Agatha left her home in Sunningdale and her 4 seater Morris Cowley car was later found abandoned at Newlands Corner in Surrey. By this time Agatha was aged 36 years old and was already a successful crime writer and her 6th novel, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd had just been published. Her sudden disappearance attracted both national and worldwide interest. The search for Agatha was the largest manhunt of the time, involving over 1,000 police officers and civilians, and reputedly the first search in England to use airplanes. Arthur Conan Doyle (author of Sherlock Holmes) gave a medium one of her gloves in the hope of locating her, however Agatha's whereabouts remained a mystery for several days.
Posted on
This month’s scone blog features four fabulous places to enjoy scones. I started off with a visit to the Delaunay Counter which is one of my favourite cake places in London. The Counter is a separate eat in/ take away deli, adjacent to The Delaunay Restaurant, and its menu is inspired by the grand cafes of central Europe. I often stop by for tea and cake but I have been curious to try their afternoon tea which is offered at an unbelievable price of just £12.95, so how could I resist!