# 17 Go for Afternoon Tea

Next on the list - afternoon tea! Again, something we've wanted to do for ages but haven't got round to. My work colleagues gave me a voucher for afternoon tea for two at The Swan in Lavenham as a birthday present and we couldn't wait to use it.

We made a reservation for 2.30 on Saturday the 4th of July which turned out to be a gloriously hot and sunny day and Lavenham was looking lovely.

The Swan is right in the centre of the village and is a hotel and restaurant in a beautiful old timber-framed building. Inside, although the building is hundreds of years old, the decor finds the right balance between modern and traditional.

On arrival, after a short wait in the bar, we were shown to our table in the lounge area. We were given a menu so we could make our selection from a long list of teas and were offered a glass of champagne which was a perfect start on a hot afternoon!

Tea arrived shortly afterwards - English Breakfast for P and Strawberry and Mango for me.

After a short wait while we relaxed on the sofa with some newspapers our food arrived.

To start with we had four types of sandwiches - cucumber and black pepper, ham and mustard, salmon with cream cheese and egg mayonnaise - all delicious. We followed those with the scones (traditional and apple with walnut) with plenty of jam and clotted cream.

Jam first then cream of course

Finally we had three cakes/pastries to choose from...

...a lemon drizzle cake, a chocolate tart (my favourite of the afternoon) and a meringue swan.

Despite years of practice I made the rookie mistake of eating all the savoury things first when really I should have saved some for later to balance out the sweetness of the cakes. Hardly a great problem though and I had no problem finishing it all off (Phil, however, had to save one for later - amateur!).

The afternoon was everything we'd hoped before with the Swan providing both delicious food and excellent service.

We finished the afternoon off with a quick look around the Guildhall (a restored National Trust property) before heading home.