SQUIB: a : a short humorous or satiric writing or speech; b : a short news item. (Merriam-Webster)
This Travel Squib insists that it’s not wrong for a man to enjoy tea and cakes and sweets in a pastel-soaked, luxurious parlor. It’s not wrong at all.
Afternoon tea might not be identified with rugged masculinity, but it’s been a relied upon ritual for English gentlemen for centuries. The Palm Court at London’s Langham Hotel on world famous Regent Street has been honoring said ritual since 1865.
I was lucky enough to attend Exeter College, University of Oxford, in my halcyon undergraduate days, and I learned the important of afternoon tea on the quad’s lawn. I was told a gentleman takes his cup with milk and two sugars — and I deduced that the social aspect of afternoon tea was as important in some reaches of UK culture as the evening family meal is to middle America.
Tea at the Langham is a peaceful, classy Laffair where patrons are served by attentive staff that bring endless pots of strong tea and wave upon wave of scones, cakes and confections. If you need a break from the brew, there’s sparkling wine on standby.
To put the beauty of The Palm Court’s tea time into terms most guys can understand: “You sit down. You get sweet tea and booze while stuffing yourself with so many top shelf desserts that you can’t feel your legs when you’re done.”
If anyone — man or beast — can’t get behind that, what’s the point of traveling? Or living?
You can enjoy a few more sights from afternoon tea below. Then, if you’re a little uncomfortable that a strapping bloke like you enjoyed looking at them, you can go chew some tobacco and punch a rugby player in the throat.
