Monday, October 24 - London

Another non-rainy day in London.  We are thrilled and extremely pleasantly surprised.  Decided to spend the day in Kensington doing conventional things like going to Harvey Nichols, Harrods and walking outside as much as possible.

Rather than transfer twice on the tube we thought a walk through Hyde Park would be a better way to reach Harvey Nichols.  Our hotel, The Cumberland, is at Marble Arch which happens to be directly north of HN across the park.  The park is just beginning to show signs of Fall; leaves are dry and tinged in yellow.  We needed  jackets and scarves because of the wind but later in the afternoon when we walked in a more residential area we shed many of our garments.  Also because all stores are tremendously overheated and it's a welcome temperature change to get outside. 

Walking through Hyde Park.

Harvey Nichols is just a nice (and upscale) as I remembered although as Americans we are paupers in this country.  The dollar is so weak (1 pound = .60 USD) that we gasp at prices.  It's fun to look at everything though.  Trish has been on a mission to find a nice blazer and she got a good one today.  London is a gorgeous city:  beautiful, clean, white, manicured, refined and a delight to be in nonetheless.  After drooling over all at Harvey Nicks, we "popped into" Harrods, the sprawling iconic London mega-department store (the store map shows a department for bullet-proof clothing).  Had lunch then wandered for about an hour and because of the extreme overheating and the fact you truly need a gps device to get around the store (I was lost and had to ask for directions multiple times) all of us were eager to depart.  Advice to shoppers:  stick with Harvey Nicks!

Egyptian escalators inside Harrods.

Walked down Walton and Fulton Streets stopping into Joseph (great shop) and the Conran store among others.  By 5pm our feet had given out and we taxied back to the hotel.  Having had two lavish dinners the past two evenings we decided to go casual tonight.  Went to an Irish pub near the hotel called The Two Tuns (still don't know what this means) for burgers.  Back to the hotel relatively early.  Tomorrow our SFWG group trip begins at 2:30.