Shopping

In the mid-1990s, I lived in London, England, for eight months.  It was the best eight months of my life!  One thing I remember is shopping for food at the nearby Safeway's.  I enjoyed this because it made me feel my independence.  One way British supermarkets are different from ours is that cashiers have a chair to sit in. (That must come from Europe's stronger unions.) I remember this bell-like sound that would ring from time to time, I don't know why.  That always reminded me of the opening note in a harp melody from this TV commercial for Shirriff lemon pie that I saw in the 1970s.

Next to the regular Safeway's was an appendix store where they sold beer and wine. (Sales are less restricted in Europe than in Canada.) They also had a photo booth there.  This was part of a concrete outdoor mall called Brunswick Square, which also included a double cinema called the Renoir, where I saw quite a few art films.  There was also a place that sold restaurant equipment and such, where I got a bread knife that we still use today.  And they had a drugstore, which the British call a "chemist's" place.

In London, the big shopping area is around Oxford Street.  I went there the first weekend after arriving, which was also the 50th anniversary of V-E Day, a very big deal in Britain.  So the place was even more crowded than usual.  I should have waited till later, yet this mistake somehow pleased me, because it was my mistake!

I never visited Harrod's.