Today was lovely, and quite different from the usual.

First there was the annual Christmas Fair at the British Embassy, so I went along just after 11 am. As usual, I met up with several of my friends, all on the hunt for British goodies for the Christmas table. I bought a plum pudding to take to Cecilia’s Christmas dinner, and even better, I found tablet at the Scottish table. It was quite good but a wee bit sugary and, I have to say, not as good as mine!

Next, the afternoon portion of the day.

My friend Gillian, who is English by birth but more Spanish having lived in Spain for many years and now here in Buenos Aires, teaches English as a second language to a group of Argentines. On Saturday, she had arranged to take a few of them to see the Downton Abbey movie, and then for afternoon tea. As she wants them to be exposed to a variety of accents in English, she also invited Venetia (London accent despite many years in California) and me (Scottish accent despite many years in Canada) to go along.

If you haven’t seen the movie, I highly recommend it. It had all the intrigue, beauty and humour of the television series, and of course all the actors are superb — most of all, in my opinion, Maggie Smith. I’m not sure how well the students would have picked up on all the nuances, so they said the Spanish subtitles were welcome!

Gillian is on the left pouring tea.

It wasn’t Devonshire cream, but tasted good anyway.

Afterwards, we all gathered in a little teashop, whose name I never did catch, for cucumber sandwiches (specially requested by Gillian to the bewilderment of the Polish owners) and scones with cream. I’m so used to speaking Spanish every day now that it felt strange to be not only speaking English, but speaking it very carefully so that they would understand me!

By the time we left the cafe it was after 7 pm, and Venetia and I were ready for a glass of Malbec. So we hopped on the bus and headed for one of our favourite hangouts, the terrace at La Biela. We were enjoying our wine when, predictably, two of our other friends turned up! Jeanette is from Edinburgh, and her husband Marco, although actually Argentine, has lived in Edinburgh for so long he sounds like a native! They spend several months here every year, and we love their company.

All in all, a lovely, varied summery day and I enjoyed every minute!