Tea Around the World - Part II

Last Sunday was the monthly tea at Shore Pointe Assisted Living. The building was beautifully decorated for fall inside and out.

Some of the ladies remembered to bring their fake passports from last month.  

The countries this month were Portugal, Great Britain, and America.  I try to make our time together educational as well as fun.  Since the group is all ladies, I highlighted ladies I thought would be of interest to them - Catherine of Braganza, Anna, 7th Duchess of Bedford [the one who is credited with popularizing Afternoon Tea], Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II and their love for tea, and the Nippies who worked at London's Lyons tea shops and cafes.  I was wishing I had a British Brown Betty teapot for my display table. I'll have to put that on my list of must-haves. 

When we got to tea in the United States we talked about the Dutch ladies of New Amsterdam [now Manhattan, N.Y.], and their love of tea, along with the ladies of Boston, Philadelphia and other cities.  I pointed out, however, that it was very much a man's beverage at that time in history too. 

I showed how ladies took their teacups in cloth totes to tea parties, and I displayed my teapot traveling bag as well. The hour passed very quickly, and they seemed to enjoy learning about tea.