Rome is one of those cities that everyone visits at least once in their lifetime. With its mix of ancient ruins, baroque architecture, renaissance art, fashionable shops and restaurants to say nothing of the grandest churches in the world, Rome is a hard act to follow. All those who pass through on the tourist trail will surely walk either up or down the Spanish Steps. It is almost the epicentre of tourist Rome. A place where crowds jostle to sit on the steps to rest awhile, to meet with other travellers, to listen to the guitar strumming itinerants trying to pay for their trip round Europe or just to soak up the atmosphere. Yet few know that the area at the bottom of the Spanish Steps now largely inhabited by chic fashion boutiques was for many years an area best known as "little Britain".

When the wealthy British visited Rome as part of the Grand Tour in the mid 19th century they would congregate around the area. Over time an array of services grew up to meet the needs of the travellers. A library, pharmacy, hotel, cafes, shops all catered for the needs of the English grand tourer. Interestingly, it was the pharmacies at that time that served the tea. Then in 1893 two English ladies Anna Maria Babington and Isabel Cargill decided to open a tea room in Piazza di Spagna to serve tea the English way. It very soon became the place to meet for not only the English but for Italian writers, actors, politicians and artists. Luckily, it survived the war intact and still stands in the same location today.
The new approach and the new products really add to the experience. So when in Rome do as the Romans do (and all the tourists) and visit Babingtons Tea Rooms.

Photographs courtesy of Babingtons Tea Rooms.