HIGH TEA

A FUN HIGH TEA
Since I’d had an exquisite high tea fifteen years before  in the crystal ballroom of the  Empress Hotel in Victoria, British Columbia, I was not too excited to have high tea in the hotel’s lobby, the new venue. After considerable inquiry we elected to have our tea at the Point Ellice House.

Tea was served in the old carriage house. We sat at our table with linen tablecloth for nearly two hours enjoying finger sandwiches, sweets, scones and all the tea we wanted.

Our server told us, “During the 19th century this area was full of lovely Victorian homes where the gentry and well-to-do people lived. This Italianate cottage,  built in 1861,  was enlarged and landscaped between 1875-89. Peter O’Reilly was Irish and a government official. He and his family, including four children, moved into the house in 1867.

“The O’Reilly family occupied the home for 106 years. The family kept extensive records and never threw anything away. There are over 10,000 Victorian objects in the home.”

Mrs. O’Reilly apparently wrote a cookbook. Except for hot cocoa and candy or bon bons, chocolate did not exist in Victorian cooking. There was no such thing as brownies, chocolate chip cookies, or chocolate cake.

One daughter, Kathleen, was an accomplished artist and several of her paintings hung in the home. In 1975 the Provincial Government bought the property.

After tea before  touring  the house we were given ear phones and battery pac. A Chinese houseboy told the family’s story.  Periodically he was interrupted by the English parlor maid with some tid bit of family information. What a creative and imaginative way to tell the story! It was dilightful.

The Victorian grounds were lovely but different than many we’d seen. It was a fun, interesting, and informative  way to spend our last afternoon in Victoria, British Columbia.