Harrods is calling my name!
November 27, 2006
Today we got up early – well, 8AM and that’s early for us – had a good workout at the gym, enjoyed a cup of tea in the room and then headed into London.
Our first stop was Harrods. By the time we got there on the underground it was probably close to 11AM. We then shopped, shopped, stopped for lunch and scones with cream and jam with tea of course, shopped, shopped and then took all of our receipts down to the duty free desk as we’d spent so much that we were entitled to money back! I think we finally left Harrods around 5PM and we still hadn’t seen the entire store. I love Harrods, if you couldn’t tell.
The store is currently themed Christmas Royale after the new Bond film, Casino Royale. So, they are playing Bond music in certain areas of the store and there is Bond stuff everywhere. I haven’t seen the new Bond film, but hearing the songs and seeing Bond make my home sick…home sick for my MGM family that is. It feels strange to have a Bond film come out and not be part of it.
On top of that, the stores is completely decked out for Christmas. Harrods, for those who haven’t been, is an amazing, city block big, 6 floor department store that has absolutely everything from rugs to a travel agency to a pet store to luggage to clothes to everything in between. It’s a historic landmark in London and it’s a beautiful store in its own right, but at Christmas it is extra incredible. The Christmas store with the ornaments is spectacular and I would have bought a ton of them if I knew how to get them back.
Of course, being surrounded by Christmas, Karen and I did a lot of Christmas shopping. In fact, over lunch we sat down and made our shopping lists and except for a few things here and there, I think we were both done our Christmas shopping by the time we left the store!
When we left, it was dark. The unfortunate thing about London at this time of year is that it is dark by 4PM. We hopped on the underground with our 6 or 7 Harrods bags (already reduced substantial in number) and headed towards Piccadilly Circus to hit the Virgin Megastore. Now, that is another “must visit” on my list in London. It’s literally right next to Piccadilly Circus and is full of great CDs, a lot of which aren’t easy to find in the states.
We ended up walking out with about 8 CDs many of which were singles of songs that we had heard on the radio during our extensive car rides. Some of the most bizarre songs come out of Europe. Things like “Rehab,” which is a woman singing about how everyone thinks she should go to rehab except her, “I Like It When You Call, But You Never Call at All” and of course the song we hear all of the time “Don’t Feel Like Dancing,” which of course makes us feel like dancing everytime we hear it.
After more shopping, we stopped into a little café and just grabbed a bite to eat. Neither of us were that hungry just exhausted and very thirsty as shopping is exhausting.
We then headed back to the hotel, which is a good 1/2 hour tube ride away and began the fun task of packing. I’m not kidding when I say it took us 2 pots of tea and about 3 hours just to pack. Karen has stuff shoved in her bike box in the areas where there is room and her pack is busting at the seams. I also think that because it was our last night that we really didn’t want to turn off the lights and go to sleep. It’s going to be strange waking up knowing that today is our last day of traveling together. So, at 1:30 AM we were still up chatting…but at least the packing was done.
Today we got up early – well, 8AM and that’s early for us – had a good workout at the gym, enjoyed a cup of tea in the room and then headed into London.
Our first stop was Harrods. By the time we got there on the underground it was probably close to 11AM. We then shopped, shopped, stopped for lunch and scones with cream and jam with tea of course, shopped, shopped and then took all of our receipts down to the duty free desk as we’d spent so much that we were entitled to money back! I think we finally left Harrods around 5PM and we still hadn’t seen the entire store. I love Harrods, if you couldn’t tell.
The store is currently themed Christmas Royale after the new Bond film, Casino Royale. So, they are playing Bond music in certain areas of the store and there is Bond stuff everywhere. I haven’t seen the new Bond film, but hearing the songs and seeing Bond make my home sick…home sick for my MGM family that is. It feels strange to have a Bond film come out and not be part of it.
On top of that, the stores is completely decked out for Christmas. Harrods, for those who haven’t been, is an amazing, city block big, 6 floor department store that has absolutely everything from rugs to a travel agency to a pet store to luggage to clothes to everything in between. It’s a historic landmark in London and it’s a beautiful store in its own right, but at Christmas it is extra incredible. The Christmas store with the ornaments is spectacular and I would have bought a ton of them if I knew how to get them back.
Of course, being surrounded by Christmas, Karen and I did a lot of Christmas shopping. In fact, over lunch we sat down and made our shopping lists and except for a few things here and there, I think we were both done our Christmas shopping by the time we left the store!
When we left, it was dark. The unfortunate thing about London at this time of year is that it is dark by 4PM. We hopped on the underground with our 6 or 7 Harrods bags (already reduced substantial in number) and headed towards Piccadilly Circus to hit the Virgin Megastore. Now, that is another “must visit” on my list in London. It’s literally right next to Piccadilly Circus and is full of great CDs, a lot of which aren’t easy to find in the states.
We ended up walking out with about 8 CDs many of which were singles of songs that we had heard on the radio during our extensive car rides. Some of the most bizarre songs come out of Europe. Things like “Rehab,” which is a woman singing about how everyone thinks she should go to rehab except her, “I Like It When You Call, But You Never Call at All” and of course the song we hear all of the time “Don’t Feel Like Dancing,” which of course makes us feel like dancing everytime we hear it.
After more shopping, we stopped into a little café and just grabbed a bite to eat. Neither of us were that hungry just exhausted and very thirsty as shopping is exhausting.
We then headed back to the hotel, which is a good 1/2 hour tube ride away and began the fun task of packing. I’m not kidding when I say it took us 2 pots of tea and about 3 hours just to pack. Karen has stuff shoved in her bike box in the areas where there is room and her pack is busting at the seams. I also think that because it was our last night that we really didn’t want to turn off the lights and go to sleep. It’s going to be strange waking up knowing that today is our last day of traveling together. So, at 1:30 AM we were still up chatting…but at least the packing was done.
posted by jscdn - europe at 11:21 AM
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