Harrods and Selfridges... No journey to London is complete without doing some high end shopping.
Shopping is a strong word. A more accurate description of my trips would be wandering through department after department and staring at their prices.
Then, if you convert them to American dollars - phew! Look out!
Granted, they have some really nice things that are probably high quality and are worth the ungodly amount they want you to spend on them. However, they also have some of the ugliest things I've ever seen and they would have to pay me to take them home.
Example: The Loving Famooly painting - Harrod's
Painting is a strong word. Let's call it the child's craft project.
Other than the fact that this hot pink cow canvas is just obnoxious, if you could see the "detail work" you'd see what I mean about the child's art project.
Those little texturized pieces - little kid's plastic jewels - you know, the kind crusted on fake plastic tiaras or glued on to little girls' painted fingernails. Seriously.
I mean, granted, to each their own... if that's your style, I'll only scoff a little if I see this hanging on your wall. But... I think there is a better way to spend...
£4,250 = $7048
(and 62 1/2 cents)
I googled Caroline when I came home.
Bovinian Rhapsody, The Cow with the Pearl Earring, The Moo, The Moona Lisa
(Pictures courtesy of the Hawthorn Gallery... thank you!)
These spinoffs of the original images are interesting. I wouldn't personally spend that much on them, but I guess I could understand appreciating these pieces. But.. sequins and jewels are simply unacceptable:
Enough about art. Let's move on to the toys section.
We popped our head in to see what ridiculous amount they were asking for Boggle, but got too distracted by the child Corvette to actually pursue the board game.
On every spoiled child's Christmas list apparently:
A steal at £20,000 ($33,170). Reasonable, clearly. They also had a child size Hummer.
Now... to Selfridges. They had "American imports."
Would you pay unbelievable prices for the simplest of items?
Double Stuff Oreos - £6.49
JIF Peanut Butter - £4.75 (My Tesco Brand for £1.20 worked just fine)
Kraft Mac & Cheese - £3.99
Hershey's Chocolate Syrup - £3.79
Aunt Jemima Syrup - £6.79
A1 Steak Sauce - £6.95
Can you imagine spending $11.52 on a bottle of A1 sauce?
Other interesting goods...
Scorpion Vodka (Mmm.. Crunchy)
Monkey Picked Tea - literally (or so they claim) picked by monkeys
There was also Weasel Coffee - which is first eaten by weasels and then regurgitated before it is picked by the locals. ("It has a unique rich chocolatey flavor," the package reads.)
Civet Coffee (right beside it) however, is the "rarest and most extraordinary coffee in the world." The Palm Civet Cat prowls the Sumatran coffee plantations at night, eating the finest and ripest cherries, which are collected from its droppings. Yum!
Since I didn't need a £300 polo or any Civet Coffee, I bought delicious baked goods at both stores. A custard cream donut at Harrods and a delectable mini cupcake at Selfridges. (I also picked up some Black Currant Jam for my grandmother at Harrods). Its funny - the baked goods and chocolate were two areas of the store where I got free samples and the prices were reasonable - and there were lines of people waiting to purchase things in both departments. Can't say the "fine art" or child's car sections were clogged with purchasing customers.
Editor's Note: Conversions calculated based on £1 = $1.6585.
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