I simply love how a scent or a taste can take you back to the moment. I write this as I sip my Kea Lani Orange Pineapple tea and reminisce with you. The tea smells amazing! The tea smells like Hawaii to me, fresh and light, sweetly fruity. The taste and scent of fresh pineapple is one of the most glorious treats in Hawaii and a very touristy thing to do. (That, and eat shaved ice in Hawaii, but I digress.) I was last in Hawaii November 2014, it was Honolulu that time. But that's not where I bought this tea.
I bought the packaged tea in February, at the Fairmont Chateau Frontenac. I was in the gift shop with my son and I spied this gem being cross-marketed with the Chateau's own jars of rooftop honey. Tea and honey seemed like a brilliant idea on that cold winter's day. It was an easy decision to buy both. The humble packaged tea, and thimble sized jar of honey was a far cry from the traditional afternoon tea I'd had previously at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess in Bermuda, but I had a hunch I'd enjoy this more.
While High Tea at The Fairmont is a must-do for any traveller, and I DID it, it just wasn't me. It's a fun story though. I'd been touring downtown Bermuda and had gotten caught in the rain. My raincoat shielded my clothes, but my umbrella barely kept the wind and rain out of my hair. So, I kinda looked like a curly haired stray dog. Or that's how I felt breezing into the iconic hotel for my reservation. Oddly enough, the doorman (a gentleman of about 80 years) gave me the most lovely compliment of my life. "May I say dear, that you look simply glorious coming in out of the rain."
Whoa. Glorious??!! Me? Wow. I fumbled my words and said thank you. Such a lovely compliment took me aback, especially in my wet dog state, but it was certainly the highlight of my High Tea afternoon.
I sat alone and did my best to present as a lady. I took the waiter's recommendation and chose a tea and a tea service that seemed nice enough. I loved the look and presentation of the food. The tower of dainties and sandwiches looked exactly as I'd seen in photos and read on other tourist blogs. Too bad the tea tasted like stinky perfume strained through a sweat sock. Yuck. I held my nose and had one big gulp in order to empty my cup and appear as though I was well suited to High Tea. (But ew. I didn't like that tea at all.) Some of the dainties and sandwiches were delicious. Some were not. My absolute favourite part was the raspberry sorbet in the tiny chocolate cup. One bite and it was more than worth the price of admission. Amazing!
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| Sorbet in a dark chocolate cup on Fairmont fine china. Amazing! |
I ended up sitting with and having an animated conversation with another lady whose name was also Catherine. She joined my table offering to give up hers for a couple. I enjoyed the company. Well, until she had a shouting conversation into her cell phone with her 25 year old son who was lost in New York because, it seemed, he had not followed her directions. Anyways, that was High Tea in Bermuda. And all these memories flood back, while I sip the most glorious packaged tea from the most glorious hotel in Quebec. Sweet memories.
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| Mark Twain statue in the lobby. Post High Tea. |
Re-reading this piece to spell check and edit.... well, makes it crystal clear to me that I'm pretty damn lucky. I've seen hotels and countries people dream about and I've had fussy lunches and funny travel stories to write about. And all this gratitude from a sip of tea. Priceless.
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