2010 Trip: London Day 3

14th June 2010

This morning I had a fantastic breakfast a the Wolseley, which I reviewed earlier. You can read it here.

After this expose of upper class society, I found my way through Green Park to Buckingham Palace, just in time to watch the changing of the guard. There was much fanfare, a marching band, a mounted brigade, and much gesturing, all in front of a sea of tourists.

Eventually, I got bored and spent the rest of the morning wandering through the streets of London, up as far as Oxford Street. I was actually trying to find an internet connection so that I could find out if Andrew had replied to my message and wanted to meet up for lunch. Eventually, I resorted to buying coffee in a Starbucks and getting access that way. It turned out he was going to meet me and I was late, so rushed out, jumped on a bus and headed for Piccadilly Circus.

I was quite late by the time I arrived and found that Andrew had already left (as I had expected, due to my tardiness). I even tried to get hold of him with my phone, but as we all know, Telecom sucks and I had more roaming problems.

Anyhow, not to let the rest of the day go to waste, I headed up Regent Street and meandered through the back streets, finding little shops to poke my head into. I then had fun exploring the department stores along Oxford St. I grabbed a late lunch from a Marks & Spencer’s - a sandwich, hummus, and crudités. I settled down on the grass near Speaker’s Cnr (Marble Arch) and snacked.

After a while, it decided to cloud over and rain, so I escaped back into the shops. I spent a while reading in a small coffee shop. As the weather cleared, I wandered north, towards Swiss Cottage and my hostel. I took a detour to go down Abbey Road, passing the zebra crossing where the iconic photo of the Beatles was taken, and then after much walking, I got back to the hostel and had a chilled out evening.

I suppose I should mention supermarkets in the UK, because they really are something. In New Zealand and Europe, apart from the selection, they are fairly standard - they stock food, duh! In the UK, they have developed along slightly separate lines - while they still stock food, most supermarkets, especially in the urban areas, have sections for pre-prepared food. They market themselves as an alternative to a restaurant - take home food of restaurant quality. This marketing strategy gives them a very different atmosphere. For example, one of Marks and Spencer’s current advertising strategies is dinner for 2 for £10 - you get a bottle of wine, main course and dessert. The atmosphere that is created is at once less sterile and more upmarket than the supermarkets we see here in New Zealand.