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11/28/04
Lauren Smith
Bill
Bryson piece
Being
one of London’s major tourist attractions and a
huge shopping Mecca, Harrods was definitely on the itinerary
for our three fashion-friendly visitors. Having been
there only once before, my roommate and I had no trouble
finding it again. We led the way through the tube stations
until we reached Knightsbridge where this famous department
store stands seven stories tall. Only this time I wasn’t
carrying my pocket-sized London book equipped with two
pop-out maps, a compass, and a hidden ink pen like I
had on my first visit some three months earlier. I no
longer need that security blanket. Besides, that would
have put a huge cramp on my “I’ve been in
London for three months so I know everything there is
to know about it” style I was striving for as tour
guide to the three girls who were staying with us for
the week.
 We
stepped out of the underground and were immediately
standing face to face with one of Harrods many window
displays. The three girls ran to it to get a closer
view as I stood back and stretched my neck to gaze upon
the whole building. I had forgotten how incredibly grand
and enormous Harrods was when standing some twenty feet
away. It makes all of the other stores surrounding it
look like tiny specs of concrete. I soon joined the
girls in looking at all of the different window displays
that were now themed with “Harrods Fairytale Christmas”,
far from the “Made in Italy” theme it had
been in September. The manneqiuns were dressed in glitter
from head to toe with exotic-colored wigs. We spent
more time touring the outside displays because now there
were giant ornaments and presents that looked big enough
to house my family. Next to them were even bigger Christmas
trees. It had so much more life and spirit this time
of year, much more eye candy.
Several
pictures later, we actually made it inside. Having learned
our lesson last time from our previous visit when we
wandered aimlessly and overwhelmed for the first half
hour, we headed straight towards the information desk
to get a map. Yes, this kind of shopping requires a
store guide that tells you in alphabetical order where
you can find any give item from hats to cushions to
DVDs to Georgian restaurants. After all, Harrods has
over 300 department stores and 17 department food halls.
I recognized that now the store guide had “Harrods
Fairytale Christmas” on the front, just in case
we had forgotten in the thirty seconds it takes to get
from the window displays to the information desk. I
read further to see that Father Christmas was also here,
on the fourth floor to be exact. It also specified on
the front of the guide the Christmas opening hours.
I made a mental note not to come back on Boxing Day
because it would be closed. My second mental note was
to figure out what Boxing Day was.
With
six girls looking at a shopping map, I was not surprised
that we quickly decided to head to ladies clothing and
shoes. We started towards the nearest escalator when
Lindsey suggested we find the exact escalator we rode
on last time the two of us had been there so the girls
could experience Harrods Egyptian escalator. Vaguely
even remembering what was so special about the escalator,
I agreed that they too should not be cheated of this
elaborate mode of transportation to the next floor.
It was on our way to the Egyptian escalator that I peered
down a hallway into what looked liked a Christmas store
from the wreaths around the door. We went inside to
find endless amounts of Christmas ornaments of every
nature. Gold Tinsel and red ribbons were threaded through
the greenery that hung from the ceiling. I could taste
the cinnamon in the air and the Christmas carols playing
in the background warmed my heart. I looked for an ornament
for my family but decided that a big purple ball that
said Harrods would mean nothing to them. Nevertheless,
it was still fun to browse through the fancy Christmas
decorations.
Although
there is free admission into Harrods, if you want to
purchase anything you might as well chop off your right
arm and place it on the register to help pay for the
item. I remember how excited I was to go shopping at
this famous national institution before my first arrival.
I had been in London for only three weeks and after
reading a short caption in my Great Britain travel book
on this incredible site with 4.5 acres of floor space
I expected no less than to leave with at least one green
Harrods bag in my hand. Instead, Lindsey and I quickly
realized that Harrods is home to top designers from
clothing to cosmetics. I was browsing through shirts
that cost more than my semester abroad. Shopping becomes
considerably less entertaining when everything is way
out of your budget. It becomes one big tease. Then,
you have to deal with that insistent little voice in
your head telling you to pay no attention to the exchange
rate and that its o.k. to splurge just this one time
on that £90 purse because hey, you’re only
in London once. Well, thank God for the patronizing
glares from the female staff that made me feel more
young, poor, and American as ever because we managed
to leave without breaking our bank accounts. I warned
our guests of the expensive taste in Harrods but was
careful not to destroy all hope of buying something.
I’m sure they could find an affordable matching
pencil and eraser set that said Harrods on it.
After
seeing the sphinx and some hieroglyphics on our escalator
ride, we made it to the junior department. The earlier
sounds of sleigh bells jingling were now drowned out
by the funky beats of techno music. The six of us dispersed
among the infinite isles of name-brand clothes and accessories.
After looking threw cool “vintage” clothing
that apparently charges you for the rips and holes already
made for you, I amused myself by trying on fuzzy hats
that made my head look funny. I waited patiently as
the girls figured out for themselves that nothing in
the store was close to being affordable. We then made
a group decision that the last stop on the way out would
be the toy store; a place where we knew we’d have
fun looking at but not really tempted to buy anything.
I
truly believe that Christmas brings out the child in
everyone…. Either that or the six of us 20-year
olds have some serious childhood dependency issues to
deal with. In any case, we were like kids in a candy
store when we saw the rows stuffed animals and Harrods
teddy bears. I had this unexplainable impulse to feel
the fur of each animal as if I was conducting some comparative
research project. We trudged on to the electronics and
games area but that wasn’t nearly as fun seeing
how most of the customers that the staff was attending
to were less than 3 feet tall. We then came to the Barbie
and Disney princess area, which replayed memories of
my childhood love for the movies Aladdin and The Little
Mermaid. I admit I sometimes still sing “Part of
your world” in the shower.
Our
stomachs were growling so we decided leaving to grab
some dinner was more important than waiting through
the lengthy queue to see Father Christmas. I was tickled
to find that the outward appearance of Harrods had taken
on a whole new look since 3 hours earlier. It’s
amazing how the day can transform into night all in
the matter of a few department stores. The cameras began
clicking again as now we were seeing the gargantuan
building all lit up in Christmas décor. Spotlights
from the ground were shining on the window displays.
You could see now that the Christmas trees were strung
with lights and the huge ornaments sparkled. I took
out my own camera to capture the enchanting scene, making
sure to get the giant vertical “Harrods” sign
in lights in the corner of my picture. I walked across
the street to get the most picturesque view, traffic
and all, and fiddled with my night vision until the
lights were not blurry. Hey, every now and then I think
its okay to slip back into tourist mode. Besides, I
think that picture will make an excellent Christmas
card.
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