Montpelier Plantation Inn

This past Sunday we went to Montpelier Plantation Inn for tea. Yes, English tea. Apparently we had a Cream Tea. Can you imagine sitting on a tropical island when it is 85+ degrees at 4 pm drinking hot tea? It was quite the experience though. Montpelier is one of the old sugar plantations that has been converted to a very exclusive inn. Apparently, HRH Princess Diana came here to escape. It is a very, very beautiful place and very exclusive.
We had English breakfast tea, scones, cake, raspberry jam, and cream. Our friends, the Averys, who are British, explained that Cream Tea is different from High Tea. Apparently, High Tea is a commoner tea because they placed the tea and cakes on a high shelf away from the dogs. At tea, one is supposed to place the jam and cream on the plate rather than directly on the scone. There are other rules as well, but we were a bit hungry so skipped all the niceties. Afterall, we are rude Americans ;) Oh, there is also Afternoon Tea, where you have little sandwiches rather than sweets.

Oh, another thing. In the U.S., we would pronounce Montpelier as Mont-pee-lee-er. Right? Well apparently, the British pronunciation is Mont-pel-ee-ay. So, now you know! It is funny listening to the Averys say the Montpelier. They are really delightful people. Penny told me that the whole Harry Potter schooling business is really how British education works - qualifying exams and all. More on that later for anyone who is interested.

Gordon, is a physician who specializes in epidemeology. Apparently, he was in line for the British equivalent of Surgeon General. He does a lot of studies on global epidemics and diseases for the U.N. He also just happened to take over the teaching of Brian's pre-med physiology course. Gordon and Penny also take a lot of hikes exploring the mountain. We have one planned for this weekend - more on that later :)