Bubbles & Baths

“It is not in doing what you like, but in liking what you do that is the secret of happiness.” ― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

Another secret of happiness is vouchers… more specifically, using Christmas vouchers without the guilt of spending your own money. Especially at this time of year when, if you’re anything like me, you’re at your poorest.

I was lucky enough to have been bought vouchers for afternoon tea at The Berkeley. Granted my friend and I had to pay to get to London and to stay in a hotel but, in our minds, we were technically saving money by using the vouchers.

We wanted to stay close to The Berkeley so that, if we overindulged on cake, we could simply roll our way back to the hotel. The Park Tower in Knightsbridge is two minutes away. Considering its location, in one of London’s most exclusive areas, it’s very reasonably priced compared to the other nearby hotels.

The hotel is housed in a cylindrical-shaped building. The unique design means that all 271 guest rooms enjoy views over Knightsbridge or Hyde Park.

The interior is beautiful, the colour scheme was inspired by Hyde Park's foliage with furnishings featuring a colour palette of sage greens and shimmering silvers.

We were allowed an early check in and were taken up to our room on the 9th floor, overlooking Harvey Nichols.

Once we had unpacked our bags, we headed over to explore Hyde Park. Spread across 350 acres, we spent a couple of hours walking around as much of it as we could before taking a pit stop at the Serpentine Bar & Kitchen.

Despite it being chilly, we couldn’t resist sitting outside by the Serpentine Lake while we sipped tea and ate pain au chocolate.

It’s a lovely serene place to sit out in the fresh air first thing in the morning, away from the the hustle and bustle of Knightsbridge, watching swans chase after people for their crumbs.

“Thus, when you cry out, 'Greedy! Greedy!' to the bird that flies away with the big crust, you know now that you ought not to do this, for he is very likely taking it to Peter Pan.”― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens

Once refuelled, we set off again and walked up to Kensington Gardens. J.M. Barrie lived close to Kensington Gardens and published his first Peter Pan story in 1902, using the Gardens for inspiration.

Commissioned and paid for by the author, the Gardens now have a Peter Pan statue at the top end of the Serpentine. It was erected without any official permission during darkness on 30th April 1912, so to look as if it had arrived by magic.

Barrie wasn’t overly enamoured with the statue himself and so left a more significant memorial to Great Ormond Street Hospital. He granted the benefits of Peter Pan’s copyright which means that the hospital benefits from all Peter Pan-inspired works in perpetuity.

We arrived at Kensington Palace to be greeted by another statue, this time Queen Victoria. She was born at Kensington Palace and grew up there until she was summoned from her bed in 1837 to become the Queen.

The Palace is now home to Princes William and Harry. Having spent an hour to two admiring the Palace (ahem, searching for Harry) we began our journey back to the hotel, working up an appetite for our afternoon tea.

The Park Tower Hotel turned out to be a fantastic option for what we were looking for and I’d definitely stay again. Perfectly located on the doorstep of some of the best-known shops in Knightsbridge, including Harrods and Harvey Nichols…

The Park Tower, Knightsbridge

101 Knightsbridge, London, SW1X 7RN

0207 235 8050

“Cakes are healthy too, you just eat a small slice” - Mary Berry

After our gastronomic adventure with Raymond Blanc last November, mum and I were eager to book another magical train journey.

On a quick search of the Belmond site, we discovered that Mary Berry was hosting an afternoon tea on board the Belmond British Pullman.

In case I have any extraterrestrial readers, let me explain. Mary Berry CBE is one of the UK’s best-known and respected cookery writers and broadcasters. She has appeared in countless television series and has written more than 70 cookery books to date. After winning the hearts of millions with ‘The Great British Bake Off’, Mary now has two new TV shows in the pipeline for the BBC.

To celebrate the launch of her latest book, Belmond asked Mary to host a special afternoon tea on board the sister train to the Orient-Express.

We were overjoyed to see that there were two tickets left… only to find that they were at opposite ends of the carriage. Not quite what we had in mind. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet a national treasure and so, regardless of the fact that we wouldn’t be seated together, we booked the last two remaining tickets.

We travelled down to London ready to leave from London Victoria Station at 3.10pm. We were directed to the Belmond Pullman lounge where The Spitfire Sisters were greeting guests as they arrived.

Having checked in, we scanned the room to find our host sitting in a corner signing books for passengers. We joined the queue and it wasn’t long before we met Mary, dressed in fuchsia pink with lipstick and nails to match. Hello Mary, Berry nice to meet you!

Once we had had our books signed, we walked over to Platform 7 ready for departure.

We hopped on board our vintage carriage and found our respective seats.

I was quite self conscious sitting alone so busied myself reading the menu while sipping a glass of vintage Balfour Brut Rose.

The menu included some of Mary’s favourite cakes.

Served alongside traditional afternoon tea finger sandwiches and ginormous baked scones (Mary’s own recipe.)

It wasn’t long before a lovely couple sat opposite me. They kindly offered to have mum sit with them so that we could be together.

Mum joined me and we finally began to relax into our elegant surroundings of the Art Deco 1920s carriage.

Each of the Pullman carriages is named with a unique story to tell. Some have been used extensively by the British royal family and Heads of State. Two were part of Winston Churchill’s funeral train. The oldest carriage, Ibis, dates back to 1925. Audrey and Vera survived bomb damage during air-raids over London's Victoria Station in 1940.

Our carriage, Zena, was built in 1928 as a First Class parlour car and was subsequently used in the 1979 film ‘Agatha’.

Being on board is a very special experience. It is a fantastic way to travel and reminds you how special train travel can be when you have the luxury of time… and delicious food. It takes you back to a more glamorous era, when travel was much more than to simply arrive at a destination.

“Focus on the journey, not the destination.” - Greg Anderson

During the journey The Spitfire Sisters serenaded us with classing 1940’s music, including one song that they’re written especially for Mary (containing lyrics about soggy bottoms).

The song is available on their website:

Rather fittingly, they sang us a song about cocktails…

The train took us on a three hour round trip through the Kent countryside. Before arriving back into London Victoria, Mary appeared briefly in our carriage to ask us if we’d enjoyed the experience.

After a quick photograph, she was whisked away before we’d had the chance to ask her all the questions we had been planning. The most important of which was whether she will do another bakery program with Mel and Sue?!