Exploring Europe (Part I): London, United Kingdom (Day 3)

We were following the weather forecast and expected a rain storm so we decided to go shopping early.  The sun was out and the skies were clear when we arrived at Marble Arch.  In fact, the weather was perfect for a day full of outdoor activities!  We went on a tangent and visited Hyde Park – not a good idea for those who do not have comfortable shoes on.  The park was amazing in size and you could probably benefit from a morning job here.  We came across a lot of joggers especially on the paths away from the pond area.

 

They have a bunch of chairs surrounding The Serpentine, all in pale green.  Beware if you were thinking of taking a rest there – you must pay to sit.  They do have benches spread out around the park.  Swans, canards and geese swim gleefully in The Serpentine and we came across a whole cluster of swans near the banks.  We even caught a mischievous goose bite another’s tail and held on as the other frantically flapped around.  The other geese quickly put an end to it with their scolding.  We had quite the laugh following this.

We eventually wandered back to Oxford Street to do some of the shopping at Selfridges before heading to Harrods.  On our way, I found this graffiti by Banksy.  It was a little ways off from Hanover Street so I found the location to be quite a statement.

Both Selfridges and Harrods were packed with tourists so I suppose we got the full experience.  Harrods wasn’t as bad as some of the posts online make it seem.  It is much larger than Selfridges and had a larger selection.  If I were to nitpick, I would say I was underwhelmed by their gift and souvenir section – unless you are itching for a Harrods branded pencil case.  Both department stores have a section dedicated to handling tax refunds for purchases made in the store so if you are a non-EU resident and spent over 50 GBP, make sure to stop by!

Later in the evening, the promised storm arrived and we made a dash for the nearest subway station.  As we were exhausted from our shopping, we dropped by Pret-A-Manger close to our station for some soup and sandwiches.  Earlier in the day we bought a salad from this establishment and we quite liked it.  It was a nice place to pick up some fast food.  It continued to rain overnight so we were thankful it did not rain during the day.