love, youa: My Cup of Tea

It’s amazing how passion can fuel you. After spending most of September in Europe, my first priority once home, was to get my 20 rolls of film processed. To shoot on film requires patience and love of the artistic medium otherwise you’ll find yourself pulling your hair out. To travel with film can sometimes be frustrating too, if not for me, for those I am traveling with (sorry, Babe). I always have to take into account the time TSA will need to hand check each roll of film and when you’re out and about discovering your surroundings the roll of film typically ends at the worst time such as a geyser shooting water a few feet away from you. So to bring it home safely; I get a little antsy to see it to the end of its creative cycle.

My first day home was spent in the darkroom processing my black and white film. It is so gratifying to be able to fly across the world and capture as much of the experience through each click of the shutter, protect the images to see its way home with me (seriously though, you should see me going through TSA), carefully developing them with my little hands and watching the images appear on the strip of film as I remove it from the reel. That instant of rediscovering those moments is absolutely wonderful!!! Yes, shooting film may be a nuisance at times but the benefits outweigh it.

The first stop on our trip was London. My beau’s friend, D who lives in London graciously offered us his place to stay and provided us with the best recommendation on places to eat. Of course you can’t go to London without having high tea and he recommended The Savoy. On this day we visited Buckingham Place, walked through St James Park and made our way to The Savoy. Our experience at The Savoy was great; the customer service was exceptional. I was never able to pour my own tea because somehow our waitress would beat me to it. We enjoyed a long afternoon sipping on bottomless tea, eating unlimited pastries and sandwiches while listening to this talented lady play the piano.