September 10, 2010
For some reason, I had never heard of this quite famous shopping “mall”; apparently Princess Diana used to shop exclusively at Harrods.
How should I explain the look of this place.. well as we approach the door, there stands a man in uniform holding open the door for us. Marika wanted to buy a pair of sunglasses so we look around on the ground floor… she looked for sunglasses while I was staring agape at the scene in front of me:
The “store” was organized in gigantic rooms, probably the size of a ballroom and with similarly elegant interior design; the rooms were broken up into different areas separated by isles. These areas sold different items – purses, watches, household items, blouses, dresses, cosmetics. Each area was “patrolled” by one or more salesperson, most of whom were women, perfectly made up, gelled hair, red lipstick, ironed dress shirts and skirts, wearing tall stilettos.
While looking for the Ray Ban glasses, we passed through a couple of escalator shafts. In one of these, as I step onto the escalator, some opera music starts to play… or so I thought. Halfway up the escalator, as I look to the left, there stands a woman in an outcropping terrace, dressed in a large dress, singing opera music.
Oh and the toilets: I walk in, and an escort points me towards the toilets. I tell her that I only came to fill my water bottle, at which she graciously smiles and lets me pass. I fill it up, then notice an array of lotions, perfumes, and other toiletries for use after one washes their hands. Going closer, I realize that these are not just any perfumes, but ones that were on sale in the previous room for about 200 pounds a piece next to the 199 pound jeans… I think even if I won the lottery I wouldn’t be able to afford such highly priced clothes. Wow.