Shopping, Dectives and Musicians

You know you're tired when you sleep 12 hours.

After spending most of the day yesterday with Stephanie and just enjoying having arrived in Epping, it was all I could do to not to fall asleep after dinner. I didn't want to go to bed too early as I didn't want to wake up too early either. I finally closed my eyes at 9pm, and stayed asleep most of the night and didn't get up till 9:30. Felt much better in the morning.

After breakfast and what ended up being a cold shower, Stephanie and I head out to London town.

We went first to Harrods which is always an adventure. Harrods being very large and full of many expensive things. I was looking for something specific for a friend, but did not find it there. However I enjoyed wandering around with Steph. It is always amazing to see how expensive some of the things in Harrods can be. It's clothing, books, toys, kitchenware, sliverware, bags, cosmetics, it goes on and on...

There are also several small restraunts and places to eat within Harrods. Steph treated herself and I to some amazing gelato from the Harrods Ice Cream shop. She had lemon and I had strawberry. Walking through the food halls is also amazing. The hall with all the chocolate is probably best. Pastry case after pastry case of the most amazing looking chocolates and desserts.

After we were done wandering around Harrods we went to a couple of tourist shops across the street where I picked up a couple of post cards and a tea towel for a friend of mine.

After that, it was time to decide where to go. Taking a look at the Tube map and considering wehre I had and had not been... I decided we should try to find 221b Baker St since there was a Baker Street Tube stop, I was hoping that it wouldn't be too hard to find. And thankfully, it wasn't.

A few short Tube stops from Knightsbridge was Baker Street. Thanks to a map at the station, it wasn't hard to find the Sherlock Holmes House and Museum. I decided not to do the tour, but it was fun to walk around the little shop and I bought a little magnet. Of course I'm sure later I'll here that there was something fascinating at the museum I would have loved to see... but at least I can say I've been and if I decide to go back, I know how to get there.

Next door is the London Beatles Shop. Full of, whate else, Beatles merchandise. It was quite amazing. T-shirts, posters, magnets, postcards, bags... on and on. It was quite amazing.

The people in the shop told us how to get from there to Abbey Road, so after making a small purchase there, we went back to the Tube, one stop up and off to Abbey Road. It took a couple of tries to find the right way to go, but it wasn't long before we found it.

I did not get my picture crossing the road as it was very busy and the cars were impatient. The recording studio was also being remodled so I wasn't able to get a picture of it, but I did get pictures of the grafitti on the walls around it and the Abbey Road street sights.

It's funny how such a little spot in the middle of nowhere has become such a major sightseeing location. And even then it isn't much. You can't get a tour of the recording studio, there are no shops, no signs, only the grafitti along the walls outside the studio. The main Beatles shop being the one on Baker Street. A much more commercial section.

By this time Stephanie and I were both hungry, but there were not any places that we could see to eat around Abbey Road. So we went back to the Tube and went up to Bond Street to find a bite to eat. Enjoyed a delicious Italian meal at Spagetti House. However they were rather busy and it took some time to get our food and bill. Which apparently you are supposed to ask for since they won't automatically bring it to you.

From there we went into a Disney Store that was located on a Bond Street which is apparently a big shopping area. There were people everywhere!! The Disney Store was one of the largest I had ever been in, and had a collection of Mickey and London related items. I picked up a cute little magnet with Mickey and some London images in the background.

Then it was finally time to come home!

It was a fun day out and I got to see some things I had not seen before in my travels to England. Tomorrow Steph, her friends and I are heading out to a market in London, possibly a scavenger hunt taking place in London and ending the day with 'Much Ado About Nothing'. Which I am very very exccited about.