Day: September 4, 2024

Sometimes when exploring Second Life it’s easy to miss what is pretty much in your own back yard, so to speak.

For example, it’s no secret I have a home in Second Norway – and I’m very proud of the fact I’ve been able to put down roots there. Recently I added to this by visiting New Deer Isle, a superb setting in Second Life created and held by Kaiden Glocke Tray (KaidenTray), writing about it here. With September arriving, I’ve been able to visit another public location within Second Norway, this one sitting within a cosy parcel of land just under 3,500 square metres in size.

Created by Karmagrl Nesbith (Karmagrl),this setting is genuinely magical and a total delight, with its core theme obvious from its title: Mad Hatter’s Tea Room.

However, to view it purely as some form of homage to the most famous literally works of Lewis Carroll (aka Charles Lutwidge Dodgson)would perhaps be an error. Yes, characters like the Cheshire Cat, the caterpillar, the dormouse, the dodo – as well as the Queen of Hearts, Alice, the White Rabbit and the Mad Hatter himself –  and more, are all waiting to be found; but they are the icing on the cake for what is a richly engaging setting that sits on, under, and above the parcel.

Welcome to the Mad Hatter’s Tea Room! After you come in through the main gate, wander into the gardens through the pink gate. Follow the flower pathway to the main building- the Tea Room. Stop in, sip some tea, imbibe in some delectable bakery delights, and just enjoy the view.

Be sure to walk off the Second Life calories that don’t really count, and take a trip through the grounds, enjoying the whimsical Alice in Wonderland décor. Be sure and go down to the waterfront, and have a glass of wine or a beer, or even a mixed drink in the secret bar that is through the dull looking door that seems to go no where…

– From the introductory notecard to Mad Hatter’s Tea Room

From the pink gates at the landing point (those arriving by road can park their cars outside of the larger wrought iron gates if they wish!) visitors have a choice of following the path directly to the Tea House or cross to the a large terrace overlooking a natural cove cut by water flowing both into and out from the land.

Motifs from Carroll’s books are immediate: the presence of the Queen of Hearts and Alice as greeters in the inner car park as your arrive; the bushy-tailed herald looking as if he’s ready to announce your passage through the pink gate, your arrival, the playing card guard, oversized teacups and caterpillar cars on the terrace…

Meanwhile the garden path meanders gently up to the tea house, offering it own delights of colourful blooms, fountains, budgies in the trees, bunnies at play (or asleep!) and a branching path cutting back across the gardens to reach the upper end of the terrace. A further path leads the way over a little pool of water to where visitors can join the Hatter himself for tea outdoors if they wish, seated at a table cupped in the arm of a stream as it tumbles away from the pool to join with a second stream before both drop away into the cove.

The non-calorific cakes, cream buns and other delights can be enjoyed on both floors of the Tea House, which offers further celebrations of Alice’s adventures as immortalised in animation and film. And don’t let the White Rabbit outside holding his fob watch trick you into believing you’re in any way late for any for of important date and that you need to be moving on; take a choice of tables indoors or out and just enjoy the setting.

Places to sit actually abound throughout the setting, whilst the terrace itself sit over the bar mentioned in the introductory notecard, two sets of steps leading out to its waterfront entrance. Teas and coffees might also be enjoyed in the bar – as might a beer or a cocktail by those so-minded. The terrace also offers chess for those who might fancy a game, and a small teleport base back alongside the pink gates will carry you up to the sky platform and its maze and mix of characters from the books.

To describe Mad Hatter’s Tea Room, however, is to mis the point – it’s a place to be visited and enjoyed. As such, I’ll encourage you to do so, particularly if you love Alice’s adventures, and I’ll leave you instead with a couple more images.

 

SLurl Details

• Mad Hatter’s Tea Room (Alesung, rated Moderate)