Holidays on the High Street

I didn't grow up as a mall kid. The mall in my hometown (Winston-Salem, NC) actually opened just before my sophomore year in college, so I spent my living-at-home years shopping at shopping centers or downtown.

What I remember best about that very dated mode of shopping is the windows and their beautiful displays. When I was a kid, I would see a toy in the window of Tiny Town and I wanted to go in and get it. When I got older, it was clothes in the window of Arcade, Robins or Thalhimer's. The window display moved you right into the store.

That's the real joy of high street shopping here in London. Yes, there are malls, but they're few and far between. The real shopping action takes place on the main street of each borough, and that's referred to as the high street. Islington, where we live, has a high street. It's a small area, but there are clothing stores, shoe stores, drug stores, supermarkets, charity shops, boutiques, restaurants and of course, Starbucks. Two of them, three blocks apart.

The best high streets in London are Bond Street and Regent Street. That's where all the big department stores are - the behemoths that fill a city block and have six or seven stories of everything you can imagine.

The economy is rough here too. That's kind of good news for Americans who are here - the dollar was $1.98 to the pound when we arrived; now it's about $1.45 to the pound. American dollars go further now. It's a great time to visit the UK!

Last week, all the Christmas lights came on. The stores now are fully decorated and Christmas songs play as you shop. The window displays are stunning.

Selfridge's windows take my breath away. Their motto for this shopping season is "The More The Merrier." They've carried the theme out in each window, with Santa in a number of everyday poses. Each window is a separate, elaborate scene. In one, Santa is in a barber chair; in another, he's pushing a cart down the aisle in a grocery. In another window, he's soaking in a tub - with his red suit on, of course! These windows are so inventive and so much fun to look at. There are plenty of them, because Selfridge's is a monster building.

Down the street, Debenham's is decorated to look like a giant package. And over in the Covent Garden/Seven Dials area, the street decorations are just gorgeous.

Click on the photos to see them full size. They're quite something to behold!

Random notes: Tonight we ate a much-needed bowl of chicken soup (we have colds!) at Harry Morgan, a NY-style deli that's been in London since 1948. There are a couple of locations, but we went to the one in St. John's Wood High Street, just a few streets over from Paul McCartney's home and a few more streets away from the famed Abbey Road. Paul's a pretty famous vegetarian so I didn't expect to run into him in an establishment that specializes in salt beef sandwiches. But, really how cool would that be??

*** I popped into Harrod's today to pick up a tin of tea and decided to browse a bit in the section they call Pet Kingdom. Oh, how I wish I'd had my camera. Pet Kingdom makes PetSmart look like The Dollar Store. The luxury! This is when you truly want to lead a dog's life. They had about a hundred collars. I saw one I thought would look good on Mocha ... but quickly put it up when I saw the price - 35 quid! That's about $52 US for a dog collar!

The dog clothing was hysterical. They had London police coats for your dog as well as leather jackets, sweaters of all kinds and every kind of bowl you can imagine. Not to mention some of the most gorgeous blankets you've ever seen!

I feel like such a neglectful pet owner. My dog has worn the same collar for nearly four years and he eats from a stainless steel bowl. He seems happy, though - I hope there's not a dog therapist in our future!

*** Men in London carry bags. They're smaller than briefcases, like purses, with shoulder straps. I noticed on the tube today that almost every man, especially those in suits, carry them.