Shopping, shopping and a musical!
Tuesday, after another big breakfast (scrambled eggs, sausage, some kind of fried tomatoes, toast with butter and jam, pastries, watermelon, pineapple, juice and tea…!) we set out for Oxford Street, one of the biggest shopping districts I’ve ever seen. Stores everywhere. Huge stores at that. TopShop was absolute hell; it was like four stores in one and we got lost several times. I bought some tights, but only because I’d forgotten my own at home. They had a good deal on jeans from Wrangler and Lee compared to Denmark, but the pair of jeans I tried on was way too low-rise for me (I hate buttcrack jeans) and I couldn’t close them, anyway. The giggling, manic girls in there with way too much makeup and perfume were pissing me off, so I didn’t go back to try another pair. They also seemed to be out of my size, so oh well. I did get some cool shoes though:
Not at that store, but at a store called Shuhe, I think. I paid £45 which is quite cheap for Converse shoes (if you ask me!) – especially since you consider that I’ve worn out my old ones now, 4 years after the original purchase, and those were fabric only. These new ones are more sturdy all-round; leather on the outside, fabric on the inside and a much thicker sole. They resemble my old ones a lot, but I’m just not into the classic black/white ones.
One store I was adamant about finding was Banana Republic. We can’t really get that here (maybe in Copenhagen, but I’m not sure) and I like the look of their clothes. I also had a 10% voucher from a magazine I got at the hotel, which I used to purchase a dress that I don’t have a picture of. It’s the green one in the left of the first slide on the London website. It’s not a great picture, but the only one I could find. It’s very pretty and not normally something I would buy (at that price!). It was £85 without the voucher which is quite steep, but I fell in love with it when I put it on (I wasn’t actually planning on buying it, just wanted to try it on, but you know how it goes…) and then I had to buy it. I love it so much and can’t wait for an occasion to wear it! I’m thinking the wedding I’m photographing in the middle of July?
Due to the large breakfast we weren’t really hungry for lunch, just thirsty, so we stopped by Borders. The crowds in the streets had left me looking like this
and dad was pretty much the same. (See, again with a not-smiling picture?) I liked Borders, such a huge place to buy any kind of book imaginable, but I was a bit disappointed with their craft book section. Not for lack of selection, but almost all the books were scuffed and looked worn and old. The dust jackets were ripped, the soft-cover books were bent, black marks all over the fronts… And if there’s something I hate, it’s books not being taken proper care of! I can’t imagine anyone would want to buy those books. I certainly didn’t! Dad said maybe I could get a couple of pounds knocked off the price, but I wouldn’t even pay half of what those books cost when they look like that. I’m a book snob, admitted, and I like mine to be in pristine condition when I get them. That way, if they get a mark, it’ll be my own fault and I won’t be as upset.
So I didn’t buy any knitting books, but instead got these:
Two Terry Pratchett books, two Trudi Canavan books. I have the first two books in the “Age of the Five” series (Canavan) and I’ve been looking at the first book of “The Black Magician” trilogy for some time. And paperbacks are so cheap there compared to Denmark! I paid a bit over £30 for those four books, here I would’ve payed a little under the double. Insane. If I go back I’ll definitely buy more. I can’t wait to read “The Magician’s Guild” but I think I’ll bring it with me when I have to take the bus/train to Sweden in a few weeks (I finally got someone to take my Saturday and Sunday shifts, but I won’t be able to get rid of my Friday shift. The last guy I can’t get hold of, but it looks like he’s swapped his own shifts that week, so I guess that means he’s going somewhere too. I don’t mind; at least I’ll get two more days in Sweden with my darling!) – it’ll make for good reading, if I can avoid getting motion sickness.
We went back to the hotel to change clothes and get some rest before the second part of the day: the musical! We got this dinner/musical deal with dinner at a SAS Radisson hotel (the food was quite nice, but what is it with Brits and vegetables? Are they afraid of them? Do they not exist in Britain? We got a huge steak and fries, and ONE half tomato.) and afterwards we went to see The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre. Dad “forgot” to bring the camera so I have no pictures from that evening, but it was magical. We got to sit way up front, and the musical was so amazing. I’m a huge Phantom fan, I’ve seen the movie several times, but I’ve never seen it performed on a stage! I liked the Phantom very much, and I thought the actress who played Christine was also decent (albeit a bit too over-dramatic at times – but maybe they have to be like that on stage? It’s not like you can get a close-up of their face like you can in movies, so they have to speak with their bodies….). The music was fantastic, and I cried a bit at the end when she choses that other guy whose name escapes me over the Phantom. They all say he’s so evil, but I don’t see it. He’s just passionate about his music and his love! I’d take him if she doesn’t want him..
Leaving that kind of experience always makes me feel sad – especially because everyone suddenly seem so ugly and crass. I love the magic of the theatre/opera and the music… It’s like being in a whole other world, and I wish it could go on forever. It’s like being short of breath during the entire performance, like everything else has stopped around you, and all that’s left is the passion and the music. It’s beautiful and the most wonderful feeling in the world.
I hope I get to see it again some day. Perhaps I should get more into the theatre/opera/musical scene… There might be some good ones showing around here. It’s the music that really gets me. It’s like it seeps in through every pore and just … rocks my world.
Anyway, that was pretty much it for Tuesday. Wednesday’s installment will bring yarn and yarn shop reviews! :)
Posted by Ani on June 23, 2009 at 4:44 pm
I am reading Lords and Ladies right now! If it weren’t for the air-fare, you’d have a blast in Oregon…those books would’ve cost you about $30….which is about half of the English price. Admittedly this is because our economy is being trampled, but still. And! No sales tax in this state! And! Vegetables!
I wish I could go visit London again now…it sounds like so much pretty and fun. It looks like you had some really pretty weather for London too…
Posted by samantha on June 23, 2009 at 6:03 pm
next time you want converse shoes – just email me. they go for like 40 (28 euros) dollars here, and shipping isn’t that much either!
and I also noticed a lack of veggies in britain when I was there – I had alot of salads (I was 14 and my grandpop insisted that I had one veggie like thing a day).
Posted by Michelle on June 24, 2009 at 12:16 am
I watch my first ever theater show this year and it was the Phantom of the Opera!! Love the show!!! I’ve never seen the movie either but I really enjoy the stage show!! :) I was speechless the whole entire time!! Love the music and everything!!
Posted by Barkfoot on June 24, 2009 at 3:07 am
The London crowds leave me with that face too. You should see my London traffic face!
I thought I’d better try and explain the veggie situation. Vegetables are cheap, plentiful and varied, and as such constitute the bulk of the everyday diet. Meat etc is relatively expensive, so, when you go out for a meal, customers are loathed to pay out for veggies, but want rich, stodgy food and lots of meat. Maybe it harks back to Medieval times when vegetables were for plebs, and roast meat was for celebrating.
Posted by Suna on June 24, 2009 at 1:50 pm
I always found it odd that the English refer to all their vegetables with French names. When my English friend and I were cooking together all the time, we’d laugh and laugh that what we thought were two different things were just the American and English versions. Darn, I had hoped an aubergine was some exotic, fancy thing, not an eggplant.
We love Converse shoes, too. One son will ONLY wear them, but only black. I wear my the Who limited edition ones sparingly–don’t want to wear them out.
Can’t wait for more!