A Relaxed Day Devoted to Retail Therapy: Shopping in London

A Relaxed Day Devoted to Retail Therapy: Shopping in London

London

Thursday, May 19, 2022

    Given the hectic nature of our itinerary, it was good to find a pocket in our time here in the UK that is relatively free.  So, it only made sense for us to spend the day doing all the shopping we had hoped to accomplish before leaving the country. Not surprisingly, if you know me, I had made a list of all the things I intended to buy from the UK and buy them I did. Besides, although I have carried, from India, small (light) gifts for our friends and hosts, we had intended to buy bigger and better gifts for them from London. At least three of our friends have left their entire homes to us for our use while they are traveling away from home ourselves. To these folks, we tried to wrack our brains to find out what might work best for them. 

    So, since we had no early train to catch (after three consecutive days of doing just that), we took our time waking up--or, more correctly, Llew did.  A big part of his idea of a vacation is waking up later than usual, while for me, there is no difference. I wake up early no matter where in the world I might be--so, of course, I was up by 6.00 am and I spent a good part of the quiet time in the flat blogging. When my eyes were closing again, I went back to sleep. And so, it was not until 9.30 am that we finally decided to get up and get going.

    Breakfast today was honey nut flakes with honey yogurt and milk and decaff coffee. It was delicious, but it was certainly not filling enough for me and I expected to feel hungry within three hours. By the time we finished with our showers and got dressed to leave, it was 11.20 am--certainly far later than we had ever left for the morning up until this point.

Making a Start at Marks and Spencer at Edgeware Road and Marble Arch:

    As a large branch of Marks and Spencer was at Edgeware Road, it was a good place to start our search for underwear for us and gifts to take home to friends and family members back in the US and India. However, when we found that the first thing we wanted to buy--Llew's underwear--was not available in his size, off we went, on the bus to Marble Arch where, I knew, that there was a large branch of M&S on Oxford Street.

    The lovely red and blue souvenir shortbread biscuit tins that have been designed and created for the Platinum Jubilee were certainly the best fits to buy, we thought. We also picked up tons of the cookies I have loved through the years--fruity flapjacks, pistachio and almond, milk chocolate and salted caramel, Belgian chocolate and hazelnut, dark chocolate gingers. We also bought bars of Battenburg Cake which both of us really like very much. I also picked up rolls of baking parchment paper and plastic zip-lock bags. 

    It was almost 2.00 pm by that time, and as I had expected, I was peckish and ready for lunch, It made sense to pick up ready meals as we were in the place that makes the best of them. So, next thing I knew we had an Indian meal for Llew (Butter Chicken with pullao, mixed vegetable and onion bhaji) while I went for a delicious Fish Pie with salmon, cod and prawns.  With all these items being really heavy, we thought it made sense for us to go back home and drop them all off, have lunch and then set off again.

Taking a 'Lunch and Nap' Break:

    And so, fifteen minutes later, we were back in our flat and ready to enjoy our lunch. Into the microwave they went and, just a little later, we were enjoying our lunch very much. They took me back to the years I lived in London when these meals became so convenient and so economical that I actually stopped cooking altogether and relied on them and on soups, sandwiches and salads.

    Lunch done, it was understandable that we would want to have a nap--after all, it was going to be a relaxed day. Both of us fell asleep almost immediately and awoke at half past four to get ourselves ready for the second stint of shopping.

Off to Knightsbridge:

    This second foray into the shops took us to Knightsbridge--and if it is Knightsbridge, it can only be Harrod's, of course. We decided to find the incredibly classy wooden chests of assorted teas that we have given as gifts through the years to a number of people (after buying it ourselves and finding out how much we liked it). However, to our great disappointment, this item had sold out and no one was sure when they would be replaced. The sales lady told us that they had been waiting for a whole month for replacement stock. We had no choice but to purchase the tin of assorted teas and when we spied the matching tins of assorted biscuits (and since one of our hosts is a huge fan of British biscuits), we decided that it would make a really good present for both sets of friends. With our buys placed in Harrods' lovely new paper carrier bags, we left the store. (They have done away with the plastic bags--so hang on to the ones you have as they might well become collectors' items).

    Next stop, Boots where I needed to buy my stock of skincare products for the next year (because who knows when I might next return to London). Two jars each of No. 7 Day Cream and Night Cream, Skin serum and eye cream and we were almost 200 pounds lighter in our pocketbooks despite the fact that the items were 3 for the price of 2. From Boots, I also bought my Dove body wash. Like all the faithful fans out there who are outraged that Silk Glow has been discontinued and been replaced by Nourishing Glow, I too am disappointed to find that I cannot buy the item that I have been using for the past fourteen years. I bought a small pack with the idea of trying it out to find out how it actually is. If it is not too different, I shall go ahead and buy my annual supply. I was also disappointed to find that the OPI shade of red nail polish that I have loved for years (Red Hot Rio) has also been discontinued! I find that it is available online, but not in any of the shops or department stores any more. This is the case with so many of the products I have intended to buy: nail polish, body wash, marmalade...it is just unbelievable that so many of the things I have used and loved, over the years, have disappeared.

Back on the Bus Home:

    We walked back to Knightsbridge, caught the bus back home and, at Edgeware Road, discovered that there is a a huge Waitrose right by our bus-stop. So, of course, I went in there to buy my stock of soups, many manufactured by Ainsley Herriot, which, to my good luck, were on sale. I bought a bunch of them and laden with all these buys, almost all of the things I intended to buy were bought (if, of course, they were available).

    Back in our flat, I sat down with drinks and a few nibbles based on the cheese and crackers we had bought from Marks. We also sat down to watch The Staircase starring Colin Firth and Toni Collette. During commercials, I reheated the second portions of our ready meals and we ended up finishing up Episode 1 while eating. Dessert was tiramisu which I also picked up from Waitrose. 

    Just before we retired for the night, we did a load of laundry as we both needed to replenish our stock of clean clothes. It was really late by the time we went to bed after what had been another productive but far more relaxed day.

    Until tomorrow...cheerio!