Tea with Jane

from The London Review 2023

Who Are The London Reviewers

By Selena Reno

I have always loved the glitz and glamor of drinking high tea in London. When I was growing up my grandmother would always put on, my now favorite movie, Pride and the Prejudice, and we would just sit there and watch the characters flutter across the screen with such elegance and grace. Looking back at it now it is one of my favorite memories and I still to this day love the prim and properness that drinking tea can make someone feel. It has always been a big dream of mine to have tea in London and experience the extravagance of finger sandwiches, scones, and cake. To be able to wear a nice dress with a big fluffy hat, raise my pinky, and talk in a funny accent, just like those people did in the movies and books that I watched and read. However, I didn’t have a hat or a funny accent, but I did have my dream come true at the Jane Austen Centre no less.

The whole trip to Bath was a bit of a cluster for Sammi and me because it was as if it was a test from London to see how local we could be. We went to a train station when we were supposed to go to a coach station and had to go to the coach station to get the tickets then had to wait an hour and a half to be able to go two hours to Bath. We made it though and it was such a serene and calming place. I could see why Jane Austen loved Bath so much. The seagulls call the peaceful bells just created this feeling of an overwhelming calm and serene feeling. The streets were barely filled so everything was quiet and you had all this room to walk. The whole scene was so calming and we hadn’t even walked to the Centre yet. The centre was beautiful. It had pretty light cream walls with dark red bottom flowers everywhere and a huge staircase. When we arrived at the centre, someone greeted us immediately, and the workers were dressed in Victorian-era clothing. There was an exhibit and lecture about Jane’s life and the history of her works along with of course high tea. The tea was magical. I felt my prim and proper moment and had my childhood dream come true. I never knew how much this meant to me until I did it and if you ever go to Bath this is a must-see or partake in an event. It is a nice calm away from the busy life that is in the city.

Shamaria Massenburg is a North Carolina native, who attended Broughton High school before deciding to go to the University of Kansas. She has always had a passion for journalism and sports. Her bubbly personality is what stands out about her the most. The London Review was her third study abroad program across Europe. She loves traveling, creating content, and trying new foods. At the University of Kansas, she is an office assistant in the Men’s Basketball Office, an Intern for Rock Chalk Video, and has her own YouTube Channel, where she interviews athletes— titled, “Courtside With Shamaria.” Shamaria is a rising Senior who aspires to be a Broadcast Journalist.