Harrods

 

I did it!  I made it into the city, all by myself!  Ok, with good directions from the concierge. 

 

 

 

After walking around the town we're in for hours yesterday, I finally determined that there really isn't too much to see around here. It was time to put on my big-girls pants and got into the city.  The Changing of the Guard seemed like a good, (free) way to start.    However this morning, I didn't put on my big-girl pants, I put on a skirt.  And it was so rainy I wanted to do something inside. 

 

Harrods it is.

 

Interwebz wasn't cooperating, and I wasn't sure how to get in there, so I had to buck up and ask for help (gasp!).  The concierge was very helpful, and said there were two ways to get in.

 

1) Ride the train in to Waterloo, then take the Underground.

 

2) Take a bus to Heathrow and get on the Underground there, which is the line I needed and it would take me straight there.

 

I debated with myself for a little bit, then decided that getting on the bus (going the right way) required crossing the street, so the train it was.  The concierge said I needed to be on Platform 1 to get to London.

 

I walked to the train station, tapped in with my Oyster card, realized I was on Platform 2, so I tapped back out with my Oyster card, went outside to see how to get to Platform 1, realized it was through Platform 2, then turned around and tapped in again.

 

As I was walking through to the stairs to get to Platform 1, a lady ahead of me started running, because a train was coming in and she wanted to catch it.  I thought about rushing for a hot second, then decided to wait for the next train.  The trains were about 15 minutes apart, so I stood there on the platform, probably looking absolutely lost and terrified.  There was a girl who looked nice-wish waiting for the train as well, so I just followed her and did what she did.

 

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I'm going to take a time-out from this story, with this bit of advice.  When traveling in another country, everything your parents taught you about character development as a teen is opposite when trying to get around.  DO follow the crowd. DO do what everyone else is doing.  Because everyone else knows what they're doing, and you don't.  It's like Opposite Day.

 

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Back to the story. 

 

I got on the train, hyper-aware and alert so I didn't miss my stop.  As I calculated my fears, I realized the two worst things that could happen were that I would drop my Oyster card in the tracks under the train, and/ or that I would miss my stop.  With my Oyster card zipped safely in my purse, all I had to worry about was getting off at Waterloo. 

 

It turns out I didn't need to be so worried, because Waterloo was the end of the line.  You can't miss your stop when it's the last one.  Also, you just can't miss Waterloo.  I was suddenly aware that I was in a European city.  As doge would say:

 

Much trains

So people

Wow

 

Excruciatingly grateful that I know English, I followed the signs to the Underground, looked at a map, and figured out I needed to take the Jubilee line to Green Park, then get off, and get on the Piccadilly Line to Knightsbridge.  I got on the escalators and went down, down, down.  I wish I had a picture of this, because those escalators are steep, but taking pictures isn't really a part of the fitting-in MO I was going for.  Maybe next time.

 

 

 

I navigated the Underground just fine, then finally found Harrods.  I came in at the makeup department.  If a super-fancy, expensive department store isn't my comfort zone, the makeup department at such a store is about as comfortable for me as a bed of nails.  I quickly found my way to something considerably more comfortable... food.

 

 

 

There was SO MUCH delicious and fabulous looking food there!  It was so refreshing, since I really haven't found fabulous food anywhere near our hotel. 

 

So what did I eat? 

 

Nothing. 

 

 

It was waaaay overwhelming, and it was lunch time, so there were way too many people to wade through.  (In case you didn't know this about me, I don't like people).  I was in no shape to be making decisions about expensive food, so I just wandered on.

 

 

 

This is getting long, so in an effort at brevity, I will say this about Harrods:

 

It is fancy.

It is beautiful.

It is huge.

It is expensive.

It is a fashion Mecca.

There are staff EVERYWHERE.

So.  Many. People.

 

 

 

I fit in perfectly. (Sarcasm). It really was pretty impressive, though, and if you're in the neighborhood you should check it out.

 

 

 

After that I wandered around the neighborhood for awhile before I got tired and decided to head back.

 

 

 

I decided to take the Underground to Heathrow and the bus from there.    I actually think it took a lot longer, but it may have been cheaper. At this point, I prefer the train route, but we'll see.

 

I'll probably do some site-seeing with Tim and the guys this weekend, though, so you have that to look forward to next week.