May 9, 2019
After our lunch in Frenchie, the three of us walked to Covent Garden. It was windy and raining, not fun to be outdoors. We walked to the tube station and Marife guided us which train to take to go back to Picadilly. I wanted to go to Fortnum & Mason. Not to exchange her gift but to buy clotted cream for Oyen. I saw this upscale department store the other day while Edmund and I were walking to Chinatown and I told Edmund I wanted to go inside. It was also a coincidence that I watched a television documentary on the store’s 312 years of history the night before.
Entrance fit for a royal.
Founded in 1707 by William Fortnum and Hugh Mason, the small grocery store started selling quality food. They gained prominence through the association with the royal family. William worked as a footman at the household of Queen Anne. The royal family lighted wax candles every night and William collected the unused wax and sold them earning for himself a large profit. He also sold food as a sideline. He convinced his landlord Hugh Mason to be his partner. They opened their small store in St. James Market in 1707. The grandson of Fortnum, Charles, worked for Queen Charlotte and this also led to a good reputation which helped increase their customers.
Fortnum supplied food to the royal families including their specially blended teas.
We found the section where the clotted cream was. I had to ask a store clerk first where to find it because I thought clotted cream was a facial cream.
Guess what, the cashier was a Filipino. He suggested that I buy sconce to go with the clotted cream.
I went up to the higher floors to look for teacups and teapots. I got so excited looking at the many different styles. I knew I needed more time so I asked my husband to find a place to sit and wait for me. “Tart, dyan ka lang, baka matagalan ako”. As long as there’s wifi, he would not notice the time.
