Monday 10 September 2012

Harrods Day Out

 
 
 
Harrods
Day Out In London
 
 



Harrods London
The wonderfully extravagant Harrods





Inside Harrods, Egyptian display inside the famous store - London, Greater London, England
Harrods - a sight to delight the eyes



I have always been a fan of  Harrods  and over the years have made many trips there with the family and friends. Because it is such a long while since my last visit I was very excited and so looking forward to this outing. A friend and I decided we should do a little shopping and then have a good lunch - so instead of driving we went by train and taxi.

I was surprised at the changes - instead of being classy and expensive with just a little less expensive things thrown in for the plebs - it has become 'designer heaven' with grossly inflated prices to match. It is still a sight to behold but not one from which I feel able to buy anymore. We gasped at the evening clutches with a starting price of around £4,000 - we gaped at the dressing gowns priced at £3,000 plus and drooled over the handbags and accessories, which we really were quite unable to afford.














I was extremely disappointed with the changes to the food hall - this has always been a 'foodies mecca' and I have spent many hours and much money in this department.  It is now awash with small food outlets, cafes and restaurants, catering to all manner of foodstuffs and the actual space left for selling produce is much depleted. There is still a fish, meat and vegetable space, a small delicattesen and lots of tinned and packet goods but this area is now small and much less inspiring. I took a few pics of the sweets and goodies on offer but was disappointed not to find the huge array of goods on offer on my last visit.

























After this rather disappointing visit we went to  Rigby and Peller, where my extravagant friend bought two beautiful bras and I drank coffee and admired the view.







Via Rigby and Peller





We then went for a long walk in the mid-day sun (aka Noel Coward) right along Knightsbridge to The Kings Road in Chelsea. Here we stopped at  The Saatchi Gallery.





File:SaatchiGallery.jpg
The Saatchi Gallery








There is an exhibition here of photography and art, which is called Korean Eye 2012, which runs until the 23rd September. This wonderful picture of Mother Theresa by Hyung Koo Kang (2011), an oil on aluminium, is particularly eye catching.






Via The Satchi Gallery








 Here we drank overpriced wine and water in the sunshine outside the Gallery Mess Restaurant And Cafe. And here we also had a very unsatisfactory lunch (a platter of cured meat antipasti for two costing £22 and consisting of almost nothing and with extremely overpriced wine and water too).








A pretty spot in the sun






Afternoon tea at Le Pain Quotidien in Chelsea was much more successful and after stuffing our faces with afternoon tea with carrot cake and chocolate tarte we arrived back at Waterloo just in time for the rush hour!




When I got home I constructed my own quick and easy platter for two, which was far superior and much cheaper too! This we ate in the garden with some wonderful wine costing much less than the £24 Muscadet we drank at The Mess and with free iced water too!







Simple antipasti platter





Overall a good day out if a little disappointing in the shopping department.


7 comments:

  1. Lovely. The antipasti looks very good too.,

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  2. My great aunt was a terrible snob, with ideas waaaaay above her station, and although she never got to go to London, whenever her sister went, she'd always ask her to bring her back a carrier bag from Harrods (she never did ;o) ) Sorry it's all gone downhill since you were last there, and yes, eating out in London is often rather eye-watering I find!

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  3. Looks like you had a good trip to London too...I do love a visit to Harrods, especially the food hall :)

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  4. Glad you had a nice day out, Annabelle, even though there were disappointments. Harrods is how I found your blog many moons ago. I was searching for photos of the interior of Harrods, and Annabelle Serendipity's blog appeared. Your afternoon tea sounds delightful, and your antipasto platter (looks delicious) for two and wine in the garden sounds lovely. All the best! xx :-)

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  5. lunch at yours sounds (and looks) far more inviting than at harrods, what a shame they have done away with tradition :-(

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  6. cor blimey missis, your getting very posh...

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  7. Hey, I'm a new visitor and follower who is also a fan of Harrods. Not been in ages though, hope I'm not too disappointed with the change in direction. That sounds like a lovely day out. Next time you are in the area you should check out the physic garden. It looks pretty awesome and I've heard some great reviews.
    I have the joy/curse of living in London so never go to things that will always be there, lol. Planning to have a day out in Chelsea soon though.

    Hope you pop by to visit,
    Sarabeth
    Life of an Agnostic Sunday School Teacher

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