Shopping in London

Hello All! Well first off, I am not going to correct my grammar, english, passive voice, etc. This is my free write so deal! :-) Second of all, did you know it rains in London? Yeah, it rains alot! :-) Anyway, onto today's blog . . .

When I woke up on Friday John took me to get my cell phone and some food that I would like. I was again struck by how limited the grocery stores are in the UK. They just have food, that is it. If you want liquor you have to go to an off license store. If you want a hair straightener you have to go to a place like Argos, I'll explain about that store later. If you want aspirin, you go to the pharmacy or chemist. The UK has not yet discovered the idea of having everything all in one place like a SUPERmarket. That night a few of John's friends were in town from Bristol so we all met down at the pub, the Winchester. Back story on this pub is that Simon Pegg, the man who wrote Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, use to live in this same area and use to hang out a lot in the Winchester. He loved it so much that he based his movie pub, the Winchester, on the real one we were visiting. If you have seen Shaun of the Dead you will be struck by the strong similarities upon entering the real Winchester. Anywho, so we are all sitting in back, a lot of hugs, and welcome backs were coming my way from John's friends. I am very lucky that John has such good friends. Matt, his best friend, was not there but Angela, his fiance was. She is the sweetest woman and has made me feel so welcome. John's friend Steve was there along with his girlfriend Natalie, who is absolutely wonderful too. Then there were Al and Nick, two friends of John's who are part of a band called Electrolyte, really cool band, check them out on my MySpace. Nicola and Gid were also there, very nice people. So we all hung out, drank, ate, etc. It was good fun and I was happy to be with my new friends again.

The next day I met Angela and Natalie for wedding dress shopping. Angela is getting married May 24th. I forget what department store we were in but we walked down to the Vera Wang section of the store so Angela could try on wedding dresses. Now don't get confused, there is no way Angela could afford a Vera Wang dress, but she thought that this would be her only time to actually try on dresses, so why not Vera Wang? They were gorgeous dresses, and Nat and I enjoyed looking at different magazines, books, etc. while Angela tried on dresses. Once we were done the girls decided to take me shopping in London. I had so much fun even though I only bought some make-up at Clinique and a few things for John's sister, she is having a baby. I suggested to him that he should get her a gift and since he has no clue about baby things I offered to pick some things out while I was shopping. He, at this time, was hanging out with the guys having bacon sandwiches at the flat. We were walking down places like Carnaby Street, Oxford Street, etc. In England there are department stores and boutiques but that is about it. They are usually featured on streets called high streets. There are malls but there are not many of them. It was great to walk down these streets with my bags in hand and feel like a real Londoner.

Nat, Ange, and I stopped at a turkish restaurant for lunch. They had a deal, two courses for £6.99 Man, that was such good food. I had a feta cheese pastry as my first course, that was very tasty. Next I had a lamb pide. It was a cross between a pita and a pizza, and very good. They gave us chili oil and though I started with just a little of it, I ended up pouring out more and loving the stuff!

Alright, about Argos. The closest comparision I think I can come up with is Target. Argos has a variety of things, not clothes, but home, office, furniture, appliances, etc. I wanted a hair straightener and was informed that this was where I would be able to get it. John took me on Sunday and it was rather an odd experience. You walk in to this one room store and step over to the catalogs. You find your item, write it on an order form that is available at the catalog counter, take it to the cashier, she imputs it, and you pay for it. Then you wait near a different counter until they call your order number. Once your number is called you walk up to the counter and collect your bought items. Very strange, but sort of neat.

On Sunday I also purchased my laptop. We went to PC world and John picked one out for me. Then we took it home and he played with it, saying he was going to pimp my laptop. Boys and their toys. . . . :-) Anywho, I am now writing you from my pimped out laptop and enjoying having it.

On Monday I decided to go grocery shopping, since we had been eating out for most of the week and it was not a good idea to continue with that habit. After walking to three different small grocery stores I got so frustrated with what one had and the other didn't that I came back to the flat and ordered groceries online through Sainsbury's, one of the major grocery chains in the UK. This proved to be a wise decision because A. They deliver it rather than me carrying the bags down the street and up two flights of stairs in the rain, and B. I got everything I ordered all at once! I have officially learned my lessons about shopping in London. One rope is now mastered, onto the rest of the ropes!

Next blog . . . . weather and my camping weekend in Devon . . . Lord help me I am trying camping again! :-)