Hurrah, at long last the delightful afternoon teas have returned and it was kick started with a meet up with the Biffa's (self given name for my little group of lovely ladies). We decided to meet up in Cheltenham as it's roughly half way between Bridgend and Stafford along with being a nice place.
We decided to rendezvous at the Cheltenham park and ride. I have to say one of my main priorities when visiting any where is that they have a decent easy to get to park and ride. I mean, why battle with the inner town systems of somewhere you haven't a clue when you can just park up and jump on a bus which does the stressful bit for you.
On arrival into the town we got our bearings by heading to the nearest decent looking pub and as we were driving the strongest thing we opted for was caffeine. Still it gave us chance to have a natter, exchange some gifts and decide where we wanted to go and if anyone had anything in particular they wanted to get.
I have accidentally forgot to mention that before getting to the pub we popped into Hotel Chocolat (one of our many visits there) and I purchased some amazing Salted Caramel vodka, on recommendation of Biffa Ez, I would also highly recommend it.
On leaving the pub to which we were pleasantly surprised had quite a few decent looking men in it and realising they were there to watch the rugby, we hit the shops. Cheltenham I have to say didn't disappoint when it came to the choice of shops and I would recommend it if you're a shopper. I am not a big shopper but enjoyed having a mooch about.
The time quickly came for us to enjoy our afternoon tea. We headed to the delightful and fanciful Enchanted Tea Rooms I would highly recommend booking before you go as it was very busy and I have to say well worth it. We were delighted when we arrived at the Tea Rooms to be greeted with an Alice in Wonderland theme and it was almost like stepping through the doorway into a magical world. It transported us from the humdrum of the streets below into a fantastical and whimsical world filled with cake....hurrah.
On arrival they seated us on a table in the centre, for which we were grateful as some of the tables on the outskirts seemed a little cramped. There was a room off to one side which looked brilliant that was reserved for a hen party.
.
Once seated we chose our main cake to have, which tea to accompany our cake and some water to have on the table. The water arrived in decanters which we loved but we were disappointed that the tea was all in tea bags and not leaves. It was delicious none the less.
I chose the Echinacea and Raspberry tea, which was lovely and quite refreshing. It went well with the afternoon tea. We weren't sure if we were able to have refills on the tea or not and whether or not they were in with the price, also nobody came round to ask if we wanted a top up of our tea. I understand they were busy but its the little things that count.
Our afternoon tea arrived and it looked splendid, the only down point was that with having a vegetarian with us their sandwiches weren't separated from the meat ones and we weren't told what was in each sandwich, so we had to work this out for ourselves and separate out the ones that didn't have any meat in. It was all delicious and very tasty.
I find quite a lot of afternoon teas can be too much and you end up leaving a lot or taking a scone home with you. I was delighted that this wasn't the case this time and we were able to eat it all (well I tell a lie, I left a small amount of cake, but that's good going for me).
I would highly recommend the Enchanted Tea Rooms, like I have said it's all about the little things, the staff were lovely, friendly and polite. The place was clean and the toilet, although there was only one (it is a small place) was very clean, a little cold but had separate hand towels for each customer, which is a lovely touch. I liked this place so much I have already booked to return later on in the year with my mum, sister and prospective in laws.
Before heading home we had another browse around the shops to work off some of the cake, another pit stop in the pub before heading back to the park and ride and going our separate ways, Cheltenham you have been a pleasure.
We decided to rendezvous at the Cheltenham park and ride. I have to say one of my main priorities when visiting any where is that they have a decent easy to get to park and ride. I mean, why battle with the inner town systems of somewhere you haven't a clue when you can just park up and jump on a bus which does the stressful bit for you.
On arrival into the town we got our bearings by heading to the nearest decent looking pub and as we were driving the strongest thing we opted for was caffeine. Still it gave us chance to have a natter, exchange some gifts and decide where we wanted to go and if anyone had anything in particular they wanted to get.
I have accidentally forgot to mention that before getting to the pub we popped into Hotel Chocolat (one of our many visits there) and I purchased some amazing Salted Caramel vodka, on recommendation of Biffa Ez, I would also highly recommend it.
On leaving the pub to which we were pleasantly surprised had quite a few decent looking men in it and realising they were there to watch the rugby, we hit the shops. Cheltenham I have to say didn't disappoint when it came to the choice of shops and I would recommend it if you're a shopper. I am not a big shopper but enjoyed having a mooch about.
The time quickly came for us to enjoy our afternoon tea. We headed to the delightful and fanciful Enchanted Tea Rooms I would highly recommend booking before you go as it was very busy and I have to say well worth it. We were delighted when we arrived at the Tea Rooms to be greeted with an Alice in Wonderland theme and it was almost like stepping through the doorway into a magical world. It transported us from the humdrum of the streets below into a fantastical and whimsical world filled with cake....hurrah.
On arrival they seated us on a table in the centre, for which we were grateful as some of the tables on the outskirts seemed a little cramped. There was a room off to one side which looked brilliant that was reserved for a hen party.
.
Once seated we chose our main cake to have, which tea to accompany our cake and some water to have on the table. The water arrived in decanters which we loved but we were disappointed that the tea was all in tea bags and not leaves. It was delicious none the less.
I chose the Echinacea and Raspberry tea, which was lovely and quite refreshing. It went well with the afternoon tea. We weren't sure if we were able to have refills on the tea or not and whether or not they were in with the price, also nobody came round to ask if we wanted a top up of our tea. I understand they were busy but its the little things that count.
Our afternoon tea arrived and it looked splendid, the only down point was that with having a vegetarian with us their sandwiches weren't separated from the meat ones and we weren't told what was in each sandwich, so we had to work this out for ourselves and separate out the ones that didn't have any meat in. It was all delicious and very tasty.
I find quite a lot of afternoon teas can be too much and you end up leaving a lot or taking a scone home with you. I was delighted that this wasn't the case this time and we were able to eat it all (well I tell a lie, I left a small amount of cake, but that's good going for me).
I would highly recommend the Enchanted Tea Rooms, like I have said it's all about the little things, the staff were lovely, friendly and polite. The place was clean and the toilet, although there was only one (it is a small place) was very clean, a little cold but had separate hand towels for each customer, which is a lovely touch. I liked this place so much I have already booked to return later on in the year with my mum, sister and prospective in laws.
Before heading home we had another browse around the shops to work off some of the cake, another pit stop in the pub before heading back to the park and ride and going our separate ways, Cheltenham you have been a pleasure.
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