Trip to Manchester, Part 2 - Sat 22 May, 2010

I wake up early and avail myself of the family’s actual, working shower. It’s a luxury for me to wash my hair under a real showerhead, and not have to fumble with ill-fitting hoses like I do back at the London flat. When I come downstairs, I see that Matt has used the excuse of having a guest to fix one of his favorite breakfasts: hot croissants with melted ham and cheese. What a treat! The kids are quite happy to have a guest if it means they get to eat this well, too, so I don’t feel guilty and happily enjoy my breakfast.

Luxury Breakfast With the Manchester Family

We have a bit of a plan going. Fielding has driving lessons and a math tutoring session later in the day, so she’s kind of busy. Matt has to go to work, even though it’s Saturday. Peter’s just going to hang out for a while. Kim and I will take the dog to get her special, medicine-laced bath, and we’ll stop at a nearby arcade (group of stores) that has artists’ studios and boutiques.  After that we’ll pick up the dog, take her home, meet Matt for lunch, and then head to the North part of town to see where my mother grew up. 

Houses and Yards

Just a brief break here to explain something about the architecture and developments around London and Manchester. There are not many stand-alone houses, and most of them are mansions. One has to have a lot of money to live in London anyway, and while Manchester is cheaper, there are still mostly semi-detached and apartment blocks (I live in a “purpose built apartment block,” meaning the building was intended to house multiple apartments from its inception.) Semi-detached means duplex. There’s a house that looks symmetrical across the front, but it’s actually split down the middle, and each owner shares a wall. Most of these are two-storey houses. In Manchester there are usually gardens (yards) in the back, if not both front and back. Here’s the neighborhood that Kim et al live in. It’s typical of many, many neighborhoods in the area.

Fielding’s Family’s Neighborhood in Manchester

Driving

I haven’t yet ridden in the front seat of a car, and only been in two cabs so far, so it’s quite an experience to ride while Kim drives. Being on the left side of the road feels okay until it’s time to make a turn, at which point I can’t help but wince as it seems like we’re heading into oncoming traffic. But that is absolutely nothing compared to the roundabouts. Kim explains that they’re actually a much better way of controlling traffic than cornered intersections, but my heart is in my throat with each and every one. I don’t know how long it takes one to get used to the driving on the left, but I’ve been in the UK for nearly 3 weeks and I still have to undo 50+ years of habit to remember to look the correct way when crossing streets. I’m not sure I could ever drive here…

Buildings and Interesting Sights in Manchester

We drop the dog off and head to the part of town with the artist studios. On the way I snap some shots of lovely buildings in and near the town center of Manchester.

Near the City Center Area of Manchester

On the way to the studios I see some interesting artwork on a wall. There’s more of that here than in London. In London I swear I’ve only seen graffiti and artwork on walls at the skate park on the Queen’s Walk and under the platforms at the rail stations. I don’t think it’s allowed in London at all. But here in Manchester there’s a bit more guerilla art, as it were.

Wall Art in Manchester

We pass an old (137 years old) building that used to be the cotton and fish marketplace entrance.  The English empire ran on the cotton trade for over 100 years, and Manchester was the center of that trade. Some buildings still stand from the 1870’s:

Old Cotton and Fish Market Gates

We walk into an arcade of artists studios, where we see people making jewelry, leather items, classes in felting wool, and various other artistic pursuits. Apparently it used to just be studios, but the artists all got together and fixed the place up to offer retail sales as well. Nothing really catches my eye except some paper light fixture shades, but the person who made them isn’t around; it’s just an exhibit. I do see one interesting thing, though, and you’re going to laugh when you see the photo. I had to use the bathroom, and to my surprise, there’s a teeny, individual-sized water heater attached to the sink. Just so you’ll have warm water to wash your hands. Isn’t that so sweet? Who would’ve thought water heaters were made so small?

Smallest Water Heater in the World

There really is something about the way the British treat each other that’s very endearing. There are monuments and historical sights that belong to the people, not to the government, and those sites are well-treated. No graffiti, no vandalism. And there are very many fewer signs about rules and regulations. There are some, but not as many as we seem to have in the US, and the tone of them is different. “Take care” and “mind the gap”. Even when they’re making the Homeland Security-style announcements about not leaving luggage around unattended, they still speak respectfully. “Please be sure to keep all your personal belongings with you, otherwise they might have to be removed and destroyed” instead of “Never leave luggage unattended or take bags from unknown parties.” Maybe I’m being romantic, but it really seems as if the authorities expect people to be educated and civilized, and they don’t automatically treat citizens as if they were wayward children.

As a related aside, though, I will tell you about one announcement I heard that blew my mind. I was walking through a Tube station on my way to an adjoining line one day, when the announcer said, in a very normal, everyday tone: “Ladies and gentlemen, the Jubilee Line is experiencing severe delays due to a person under the train at the Earl’s Court station. All other lines are in good working order.” A person under the train?! OMG! Nobody but me seemed the slightest bit unnerved by this announcement, least of all the announcer.

Okay, back to Manchester. We leave the arcade and go shopping in a mall. There was a fish market there with fresh fish, and just like I’d seen at my own grocery store, some of the fish was dyed a bright, neon yellow.  I’d asked the fish monger about it, and he said it was because in the old days cod was smoked with wood that would turn the fish yellow. So even though this fish is fresh and not smoked, people still associate the yellow color with “the old days.” I know in the States I’ve seen salmon dyed a deeper orange-pink color, and I’ve never understood why people would want to eat falsely colored fish. So I guess this is the British version.

Bright Yellow Dyed Cod

After shopping we go to pick up the dog and take her back home, then we meet Matt for lunch near the university. We go to Gabriel’s café, a nice, down-home type place that Matt & Kim really like. Matt orders pork belly in gravy and beans, which is not something you’ll see on too many American menus.

Pork Belly and Beans for Lunch

I want the beet salad, but I need some protein, so I ask Gabriel if I could have a piece of sausage with my salad. He’s very sweet and says he’ll get the chef to make up the plate for me. To my surprise, the chef put the sausage in the salad itself. It’s still good, even if the sausage is bright neon pink from the beets.

Beetroot Salad with Sausage

After lunch Kim and I head to the Northern part of town, called Prestwich, where my mother was born. I have the address of the house in which she grew up, and I’m excited about seeing my ancestral home. It takes a bit of map reading and a few wrong turns, but we do finally find the house. It’s in a lovely little neighborhood that seems populated with Hassidic Jews. We see quite a few folks coming out of the synagogue nearby, and all the stores are closed because it’s Saturday. Kim is happy to find the neighborhood, because she happens to love bagels and hasn’t yet found any good ones in Manchester. So now she knows where to go!

Me in Front of My Mother and Grandparent’s Old House in Manchester

It turns out my mother used to live quite close to a very large park. She told me that when she was little, during the blitz of WWII, there were anti-aircraft guns in that park, and that sometimes the spent shells would go rolling down her street.  I remember other stories she’s told me, about ducking in ditches when planes came flying low, strafing the neighborhood. Stories of how she had to hide in the cupboard during air raids. She was finally evacuated to a farm in the Southern part of England, when she was 5 years old. I think she spent 4 long years away from her parents, while the war raged in Manchester. My mother told me that they used to listen to the radio, and that there were propaganda shows in which the announcer would say that Manchester was burning, that this street or that street was now rubble, and they never really knew what was true or not. But at 5 years old, how would you know what to believe? Adults were saying something was so; why would you question it? Here’s an image from an ad in a Tube station from the London History Museum that gave me a picture of what things must’ve been like:

Image from London History Museum Advertisement

Anyway, all those stories come flooding back to me as I stand in this now peaceful, lovely neighborhood.  I am so very grateful that I, and especially that my own children, have never had to live through anything like what my grandparents and my mother went through. I send up a prayer of thanks and then leave my thoughts of war-torn past and go back to my current incredibly hot, sunny, cloudless day in Manchester.

Now we’re headed to the Lowry Museum and the adjacent shopping mall. Both Kim and I have gift ideas in mind, so we do the girl shopping thing. It’s air conditioned in the mall, and it feels good. I think every single person in Manchester is either outside or in an air-conditioned mall, and later in the day I figure 40% of the population is sunburned. It’s so unusual for them to have such a lovely day that everyone wanted to be out enjoying it.

The Lowry Museum in Manchester

The Lowry and the surrounding area is in the process of being redeveloped. Kim told me that each year the UK chooses a city to receive funding and get a makeover. This year it’s Manchester. This area is on a river, the Mersey, I think it is. So they’re working on a riverwalk and other niceties. Just across the river is the Manchester United stadium.

Manchester Riverwalk Near the Man U Stadium

We finish shopping and then have to head back, because my train is leaving soon. I hug everyone and thank them for their hospitality. It’s been such a pleasure to meet them and to see a bit more of the UK than just London. On the train ride home I do manage to get some writing done, since I’m only seduced into taking a few more photos of the storybook countryside.

Sheep in the Fields on the Way Home From Manchester

Fields with Hedgerows That Could Be Hundreds of Years Old

Trip to Manchester, Part 1 - Fri 21 May, 2010

 {Note: Please excuse the quality of the photos in this post. Many were taken from moving vehicles (trains, cars) and some were taken by other people.}


I have to get up early today because I’m off to Manchester, where my mother was born. I’m actually going to spend the night there with a family I don’t know. It’s a great story: my friend Barbara has a daughter named Jocelyn. One of Jocelyn’s best friends is Fielding, who moved with her family to Manchester about 3 years ago. Fielding’s mom, Kim, and dad, Matt, said I could come to Manchester and stay at their house for one night. So I’m taking the train from Euston Station to Manchester. I’m to find my way to the University, where Kim and Matt work, and then I’ll go home with them.

I’ve got my train tickets and make my way to the station. It’s pretty big and bustling, with people coming and going.

Departure Board at Euston Station

I get there in plenty of time, because one never knows when the Tube will close a line, and since I’ve never ridden the national rail system here, I gave myself plenty of time. Too much time, actually. The train doesn’t leave for 40 minutes.

I’ve noticed while in other stations that there are shops selling Cornish pasties, which are like small pot pies with meat and sauce in them. I used to get pasties at a shop on College Avenue that’s now long-gone, and I haven’t had one since. So I’ve been saving that treat for my train trip.  My plan had been to eat it on the train, but with all this time to kill, I decide to eat it right away. It’s delicious!

I’d brought my laptop on the train, because they provide tables and electrical plugs for people that want to work. I figure I’ll be able to catch up on my blog. I actually do manage to write a bit, but then within 20 minutes or so we’re traveling through gorgeous countryside, and I can’t put down my camera. I take at least 30 photos of the rural farmland, 20 of which actually work. I won’t put them all here; I’ll just show you a few now. We’ll do a slideshow when I get home.

Gorgeous Green Countryside on the Way to Manchester

There are fields of outrageously bright yellow flowers which are rapeseed or what we know as canola, the oil of which is used in cooking. I thought it was mustard at first. It looks as bright yellow as the mustard in Napa.

Bright Yellow Fields of Canola Flowers

We pass canals with long houseboats floating lazily by (or at least they look lazy from the speeding train).  What a romantic sight. Sweet houseboats in Springtime fields, watching the trains come and go.

Canals With Houseboats

We also pass a nuclear power plant. This is quite a surprise for me. There is such controversy in the US about nuclear power, and I have memories of the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl disasters. It’s frightening, really, to see the cooling towers looming in the distance, with steam pouring out of them. We’re only 45 minutes outside of London, after all.  As we get closer I see all the water around the plant, and wonder about its safety. Is nuclear waste leaking into the water table, etc? But there are ducks and geese on that water. It’s probably just warmer than it would normally be, and migrating birds get to take a hot bath instead of a cold one.  I know Europe uses nuclear power much more than we do; another cultural difference. As the train speeds by with no incident, I take a few deep breaths and continue to appreciate the landscape we’re rolling through.

Nuclear Power Plant in the Distance

Nuclear Power Plant Close Up

I get off the train in Manchester, find my way to the taxi ranks, and ask how much it’ll be to go to the University. I didn’t want to walk all the way carrying my laptop, because to my utter amazement, it’s really hot out. It must be in the high 80s. The cab costs less than $10, so I hop in. I’m really trying to live in abundance on this trip, and not worry too much about money.  The last time I was in Europe, 5 years ago, I spent more time worrying about money and denying myself things, and I swore I wouldn’t do that on this trip. So I was fine with taking a cab, and even felt like I was treating myself to something I deserve. This is a new way of treating myself and experiencing life, and I’m enjoying it.

I get to the University and call Kim, but she doesn’t answer. I’m not sure what I’ll do if she’s forgotten that I’m coming, but before panicking I think maybe I’ll go ask at the University visitor center if they can direct me to her building. The woman who helped me has an accent very close to my grandmother’s, and I feel tears come to my eyes to hear it. (My grandma died a number of years ago, and my mother has an American accent.) I even tell the woman how much it warms my heart to hear her accent, and she thinks that’s the sweetest thing she’s heard all day. She calls Kim for me and tells her I’m on the way.

I find Kim’s building and she meets me. She’s very sweet, and offers to sit in the café to chat for a bit before we go up to see her lab. She asks me why I’m in the UK, and when I tell her I’m here to study Astrology, she asks me why I think Astrology works, etc. It’s always interesting for me to talk with “hard” scientists, but I can’t say that I’m the best person to defend Astrology to those whose lives are built only on the scientific method. I do my best, reminding Kim that Astrology and Astronomy were once the same thing, and that thousands of years of observation is what Astrology is based on. She’s very polite, and diplomatic, and seems open-minded, but I can tell I’m not doing such a good job of convincing her, or even answering her questions satisfactorily. We finally decide to drop it and go upstairs to her lab.

Kim shows me around and tells me about her research. She works on the genetics of bone marrow, and is doing some fascinating research on how certain parts of genes control the morphing of stem cells into healing cells within the blood. Or at least I think that’s a summary of what she’s working on. I’m proud of myself for being able to follow some of what she was talking about, but not sure I remember it all correctly. We see fruit fly labs and frog labs, and she lets me look at cancer cells through a high-tech microscope.  Kim tells me that one thing that distinguishes cancer cells from normal cells is that they never die. Most cells use up the “buffer” genes they have, and once those are exhausted, the cell knows it’s time to give up the ghost. But cancer cells don’t pay attention to that cue. Once scientists really understand all about how cancer cells live forever, they’ll be able to make any cell live forever. The implications of that are more than I can deal with after a day of traveling in the heat, so we finish that conversation and head back to her house.

On the way to the bus we’ll take home, we pass a huge, ancient, gorgeous cathedral. (It might just be a church. I think the difference is if the church is the seat of the diocese then it’s a cathedral, but in my mind, these huge buildings that are more than 500 years old must be cathedrals. You just can’t put them in the same class as the small, house-like buildings of corner churches.) We step inside and I get a few photos without being too obnoxious about it.

Cathedral in Manchester, Across the Street from the University

I have to say I love being in places where energy and money has been spent in showing that there is a divine presence larger than any one person’s life. Most synagogues that I’ve seen spend their energies on other things than the building itself, but churches, especially European churches, go to great lengths to show the glory of God. I love the huge ceilings, the wood and stonework, and especially the stained glass. I consider myself a spiritual rather than religious person, but I can appreciate the beauty in religious buildings.

We catch a double-decker bus back to Kim’s house. I’m able to snap a few photos from the top of the bus, which is great fun. Kim and I talk about how intense it was for her to learn to drive in the UK and how she’s comfortable with it now, but still would rather take the bus or ride her bike.

Shots from the Double-Decker Bus in Manchester

At home I meet Fielding. Matt and Fielding’s younger brother Peter are out. They soon come home and we all chat for a bit. Matt goes in to make dinner—Spanish paella. Yum! But it’s already 6:30 and I’m starving, and I know how long it takes to make paella. So we snack on cheese & crackers. Peter goes off to play video games.

I break out my laptop and pull up Kim’s chart. We talk for a while, and everyone laughs at how accurate my questions and ideas about her are. I do Fielding’s chart, and then Kim asks me to do Peter’s. I look at it briefly, but then say I want him to come down, because I don’t want to talk about him without his permission. He comes down and we talk. He has a Cancer Sun, and Kim and Fielding have Capricorn Suns, so they’re polar opposites. I’m able to explain to them why they might have trouble seeing the world the same way, and how they might keep each others' different points of view in mind when they interact. Everyone seems happy, and Kim seems as if she might actually put more faith in this discipline that is part art and part science. It all goes really well and we all have a great time.

Dinner is awesome! I feel so honored that Matt would go to so much trouble. He loves to cook. I’m a good excuse, he says, and I can definitely relate to that. They have a beautiful house they’re remodeling, and after dinner we talk a bit about their plans for the kitchen. Then we take a walk in the park over to a biscuit (cookie) factory and back. At the park we see some awesome grafitti, a mural, in fact. I took shots of it for Bruce and Teresa, especially, to see.

Peter in Front of Mural in Manchester Park

Matt, Kim, Fielding, and Peter have one of the loveliest and loving vibes of any family I’ve ever been around.  It was such a pleasure to be part of it, even as a guest.

Matt, Kim, Fielding, Peter, Myself and Heidi, the Dog in Front of Their House
(Heidi moved.)

Later we all play a board game, called Taboo. Peter, Kim, and Matt all go to bed, but Fielding and I stay up late talking about books and our favorite authors. Fielding is incredibly sweet and lets me use her bed. At first I demure, out of politeness, but when I see her lovely bed with it’s wrought iron frame, I drop that and just thank her for the use of her room.

These folks are just so nice, so welcoming and warm. I am forever grateful to them for opening their house to me. 

Next post: Manchester, Part 2

Notting Hill & Bayswater - Thurs 20 May, 2010

Notting Hill

So today I want to check out some boutiques in Notting Hill. One of my guide books says there are a bunch of cute stores on Westbourne Grove and Ledbury Roads, so I plan out which Tube lines to use and at which stop to get off. Where I’m going is quite near where I stayed those few days back in 2005 when I was here, but I’m not sure if I’ll recognize it at all, since I was quite sick back then and everything’s a bit hazy from that time.  I come up out of the underground station to find myself looking at one of those intersections that has about 7 streets coming into it, some of which are quite small and others that are major roads. I actually ask a policewoman which way the road I want is, and she points me down a small lane. It’s full of fun stores with touristy stuff like Beatles’ T-shirts and miniature guitars, punk clothing and wigs, etc. I thoroughly enjoy walking down this street, checking out all the display windows.

Soon I’m crossing the one big street on my map and headed up a residential lane to the shopping area. The houses and gardens here are grand and beautiful.

Notting Hill Semi-Detached Houses

I soon find the shopping area, which is very small, only about 3 blocks long.  It’s full of artsy boutiques and campy clothiers.

Exlusive Notting Hill Shopping Area

 I look in just about every one of the stores, but nothing is really to my taste. And it is all extremely expensive. I think about eating in one of the upscale cafés there. I could sit and pretend I’m rich enough and hip enough to enjoy what’s on offer at the stores, but I’m not really in the mood for acting so much as actually finding some nice stuff. So I head back.

Bayswater

Or so I thought. I do recognize the streets for a while, and think I’m headed back to the same Tube station I’d come in on, but at one intersection I get turned completely around , I guess, because when I finally figure out where I am on my map, I’m halfway into the Bayswater borough.  So, even though I’m tired, and getting a bit hungry, I decide to push on toward a different Tube station.  One great thing about being on vacation, for me, is the ability to completely change my plans if circumstances (or my being directionally challenged) dictate. One is never too far from a Tube station, so if I can manage to keep from going ‘round in circles, I’ll probably end up at one soon.

To my delight, I pass a lot of thrift stores on my way. Most of them are charitable institutions, with much of the profit going to helpful organizations. Now this is my kind of shopping! I forgot to say in the last posting that in Selfridge’s Department Store there was an Oxfam room. This was a room where celebrities like Madonna, Amy Winehouse, Zoë  Ball, etc have donated items to sell, the profits going to Oxfam International.  Apparently Annie Lennox and some other women have gotten famous designers to donate as well, and the stars staff the room off and on. (Check out this link for more info.) I didn’t notice any famous people when I was there, but the stuff was cool. Reason I bring this up now is because there was another Oxfam store in Bayswater, so I popped in. And then I popped into the Salvation Army and about 6 other stores. It was fun to listen to people’s conversations and see what locals wear and give away. In one store a woman was squealing with delight as she found not one, but two vintage dresses that fit her. What fun!



I pass another baby elephant statue, stuck off in a corner. I might write to the Guardian or some other paper and tell the how I found all of them.

Bayswater Baby Elephant Statue

But I am seriously tired now, my feet are aching, and I should’ve eaten hours ago. I’m tempted to stop in a Persian restaurant where some older gentlemen are seated outside, smoking from hooka-like pipes, but I don’t. Instead I listen to the Saturn voices in my head reminding me that I have food at home that should be eaten before I go away to Manchester tomorrow, so I round the corner and head for the Tube station. I must’ve passed 12 restaurants on the way, but my practicality just won’t allow me to spend more money on food.

I make it home and start eating anything that isn’t nailed down. And then I sit for the rest of the day. I’m not used to day after day of walking for miles, standing on subways, and wandering through shops. I hope between these activities and walking up to the 5^th floor every day that my heart and legs are getting healthier. I know my back isn’t always too happy. And I don’t even want to think about my blood sugar on the days when I don’t eat for 5 hours.  All in all though, it’s probably healthy to be doing this much walking around, so I’m going to concentrate on that.

Next post: Manchester

Oxford and Bond Streets - Wed 19 May, 2010

Oxford Street

After that intense day of walking yesterday, I’m not even sure I can make it out today, but I’m suddenly struck with the desire to go shopping. Not for myself, so much, but for little gifts to bring back. London has a number of famous shopping areas, and department stores, and I want to see them.

I leave around noon, and head to Oxford Street.  I’d read about it in the guide books, and had made a plan to walk from Oxford Circus station to Marble Arch station (passing the Bond Street station on the way). I don’t really know how long that will take me. It’s very hard to tell from the maps, even if they have a scale. Somehow the British seem to like maps that are regular and even, but when you get to the place, it’s really not like that at all. You might see a large street on the map with a diagonal street intersecting it at what looks like about a block away from a normal, 90º corner, but instead the diagonal street is just next to the cross street, and often it ends just before the intersection, so it’s easy to walk right past it. Or the opposite might be true: the Tube map, for instance, makes each stop look very close to the same distance from the others, but in reality you’ll wish you’d found a seat, because even if you’re only on for one stop, it might take a while to get there. So I don’t know whether Oxford Street will take me all day or the proverbial “just five minutes.”

I get there and manage to figure out which direction to walk, mainly because it’s marked with a sign for tourists (thank you, whoever did that).  The street was so packed with traffic that one of my first thoughts was that I hope an ambulance never has to make it through that street.

Crowded Oxford Street

There are lots of high-end chain stores around, many of which we have at home: Abercrombie & Fitch, the Gap, H&M, etc.

It reminded me a lot of Union Square, with lovely old buildings, the chain stores, and the occasional expensive boutique, except instead of a square it’s all along one major street.

Oxford Street Across Near the Oxford Circus Tube Station

It was fun to see what the current hip fashions are.  As everywhere else, all the stores had basically the same thing. There were two or three major looks for women, with certain variations and individual takes on them. Men, of course, only had two looks: businessman suits and casual. So here’s my take on it. Young women are wearing short, short pants or skirts, intricately designed tights, with longish, lightweight tops (sometimes even multiple, tissue layers) with belts on waists or hips. These are white, pale or bright salmon, greens or blues, or Laura Ashley-type flowered prints. Over these tops hang long chains with pendants, reaching down past the breasts. The 70s-style maxi dress is back in, too, and sandals with multiple straps coming up to over the ankle length.  Older women’s clothing is mostly boxy, and either too bright or too dull, with that same salmon, green, or blue color scheme. (Try finding purple or rust or even red—no go.)  Every men’s department or store had exactly the same look: t-shirts underneath open button-down shirts, most of which are plaid or striped. The t-shirts varied from skulls & graffiti prints to Manchester United to solid plain ones for the less adventurous. That’s it. In the whole of Oxford Street, that was the look, unless you want your striped shirt to go with a tie in a suit.

I took this photo for Horizon, because I thought he might gag at the styles advertised in this particular store. I laughed out loud on the street thinking about it.

Fairly Foppish Fashion on Oxford Street

Bond Street 
Just off of Oxford Street is Bond Street. Now this is an extremely upscale area, full of exclusive boutiques touting their newest designs that are just in. I go in one store in which everything has the logo of a little Scottie dog. Most things are leather. It’s all very whimsical, bordering on being kids’ stuff, and it all costs more than $60, even the smallest item.

One place that’s really fun is called Lush. It’s a store that makes its own bubble bath, soaps, shampoos, etc. The cool thing is that all of these are in fun shapes or materials.

Bright Colors and Fun Shapes at Lush

The bubble bath is more like an enormous, brightly colored alka-seltzer ball. The nice American (exotic in London) salesperson demonstrated how to make the water fizz.

Fizz Demonstration at Lush on Bond Street

They even have soap made from seaweed gel, and let you squish it around in your hands. It has the feeling of the stuff you put in covered bowls on Halloween to scare kids. I had a blast messing with that stuff.

Seaweed Gel Soap in Lush Store

There are baby elephant statues on Bond Street, so in keeping with my mission to capture them all, I photograph them.

Baby Elephants on Bond Street

Selfridges Department Store

Further down on Oxford Street is Selfridges Department Store. This massive building takes up one huge block, and looks a bit like a Classical Greek temple.

Selfridges Department Store, Corner View

Selfridges Department Store, Front (at the very top) View

The inside is just as gorgeous as the outside, with gilt trim and beautiful lighting.

Selfridges Department Store, Inside View

I look around for a while, but I guess I’m really done with shopping. There’s nothing much that calls out to me here. It’s more conservative than the other stores on Oxford Street. Selfridges does have a baby elephant statue inside, though, so now I have a picture of that one, too:

Baby Elephant Statue in Selfridges Department Store

I didn’t find the food halls, but I’m thinking it’s time to head back toward the Tube and go home.  It was a short day, but after yesterday, I'm proud that I was still able to walk around for 3 solid hours.


Next post: Notting Hill and Bayswater