Mall Mania

So what do you do with a afternoon to kill in the greatest city in the world?
I'm a little embarrassed to tell you - we went to the mall.
Not just any mall, mind you. This is Westfield, a brand-spanking new mall here in London said to have cost 1.7 billion to build here in this time of credit crunch. It opened Thursday and we decided to check it out - us and about 160,000 other people.
In many ways, a mall is a mall. Whether you're in Charlotte, Chicago or Costa Mesa, they pretty look the same - there are four or five "anchor" stores, plus Pottery Barn, Gap, a ton of shoe, clothing, music and jewelry stores.
To get to Westfield, we made one Tube change. We had a choice of two stations to take us straight to the mall. We had to walk a tiny bit from the station - but no further than we would have had we driven a car.
It was raining, windy and cold when we arrived, so it was nice to get inside. The mall is three levels and is built in a circle so just keep walking and eventually you'll get back to the same place.
By the time we arrived, mall staff had run out of maps. They hadn't expected the massive turnout. We arrived in mid-afternoon so we missed the major festivities - free champagne, entertainment by Leona Lewis, appearances by Twiggy Lawson and the Mayor of London.
So we had to just wander around and check the place out. It's glitzy for sure - and huge. The retail mix is a little different than what you'd see in America particularly since there's an enormous supermarket. Can you imagine a grocery store in the local mall? At Westfield, there are actually two - a standalone market at Waitrose and a food hall at Marks & Spencer.
There's a restaurant row that allows you to visit an eatery without actually going into the mall - similar to Cheesecake Factory at SouthPark Mall. At Westfield, this area is called the Southern Terrace and it has 17 places to eat, including The Real Greek, Wahacca, Tibits, Ito, Esca and Del'Aziz. All in all, there are nearly 50 places to nosh at Westfield - that gives you some idea of how huge this place is.
One of the most interesting things we noticed is the number of high-end designer shops - Gucci, Prada, Ferragamo, Dior and Louis Vuitton. Economy be darned, somebody out there has money to spend.
Not us, I guess. We left the mall without spending a dime. And honestly, I left a little depressed.
One of the things I truly love about this city is shopping along the high street - walking down the sidewalk in the weather, mesmerized by the store window displays. I love going into those multi-story department stores that are like retail wonderlands. I can go to a mall anywhere, but shopping along the high street in London has such character and flavor.
I'm glad I saw the behemoth that is Westfield but while I'm here, I'll do my shopping along the high streets.
And guess what? There's a Gap at Westfield. You'll never escape.