after reading A Gentleman in Moscow

there was a time

when a count
was a count

a princess
a princess

and black bread
was savored
with honey
that held a hint of lilac

there was a time
when friendship
was likened

to afternoon tea


"For his part, the Count had opted for the life of the purposefully unrushed.  Not only was he disinclined to race toward some appointed hour--disdaining even to wear a watch--he took the greatest satisfaction when assuring a friend that a worldly matter could wait in favor of a leisurely lunch or stroll along the embankment.  After all, did not wine improve with age?  Was it not the passage of years that gave a piece of furniture its delightful patina?  When all was said and done, the endeavors that most modern men saw as urgent (such as appointments with bankers and the catching of trains), probably could have waited, while those they deemed frivolous (such as cups of tea and friendly chats) had deserved their immediate attention."  
                             Andrew Towles, A Gentleman in Moscow