And then she shopped.

Half the Underground still wasn't running on Saturday (I guess they're trying to get stuff done while Londoners are out of town, and screw the tourists -- but it means it means you have to take the most convoluted routes to go where you want to go), but luckily the District line stopped working at Embankment station, which is where I was starting my day, anyway. I really could have seen what I wanted to see here on Friday when I had to get off the tube to take the bus at this stop, but I didn't realize, so I had to come back -- all to see an obelisk. Yeah. Well, it's Cleopatra's Needle, one of a pair, the second one being in Central Park. Since I couldn't see the pair of Madonna on the Rocks paintings (because the one in London was being restored when I went to the National Gallery), I figured I could at least see the pair of these.


Just outside of Embankment station, there was a big crowd of people gathering, and it had already doubled by the time I left. A lot of them were wearing neon vests and shirts that said something about the Tamil and bringing democracy to Sri Lanka. I got kind of nervous before I knew what it was, because any protest/demonstration can turn out to be dangerous, but especially because of 1) all the crap that went down with those anti-G20 anarchists and 2) all the anti-Israel assholes I've seen near Parliament and Marks & Spencer and the Kensington High Street. I asked a cop, though, and he said it was supposed to be peaceful, and when I looked it up later I saw that it was all OK. But more on that later.

Next, time to shop! I took the tube to Oxford Circus, where I work, but walked down Oxford Street in the other direction to Selfridges, a major department store. A funny thing about department stores here is that they all seem to have food departments (or most of them do). Anyway, I shopped (of course), and then checked out the food hall. And guess what I found? Finally, when I stopped looking, and it was too late anyway? Yup, matzo. They had a whole matzo display, with matzo crackers and matzo meal, too. Great. And Selfridges is close enough to where I work that I easily could have gone on the way home last week. They also had a bunch of American foods, like Kraft Mac and Cheese (though still an expensive £4, like that shop around the corner from me) and Crisco and real peanut butter (the kind they eat here isn't as good) and marshmallow fluff. I just got the matzo, though, and a cupcake because they're my weakness.

From there, I walked down Bond Street (it's technically two streets, New Bond Street and Old Bond Street). This is where a lot of the really high-end shops, like Chanel, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, and D&G are. It was actually pretty empty; there were very few people walking down the street. It was a little weird, and it occured to me that it might be because of the recession, but aren't the rich still rich? Or possibly all of the rich Londoners are just on vacation for the long weekend (likely) and the poor (i.e. normal) Londoners and unaware tourists are in more affordable areas?

I turned onto Piccadilly (not Piccadilly Circus, which is at the end, but the street itself), which has more shopping, food places, and other things. Sothebys, which I walked past, is here. I also passed Fortnum & Mason, a department store famous for its ritzy food hall (I didn't go in, though maybe I should have). When I walked by, I almost died because this little English boy said to his dad, "That's where the queen gets her cereal," very matter-of-factly. It was adorable. (I didn't take the picture below; it's from Google).


This street was also pretty empty, but not of people: there were no cars. The ends were blocked off (and now that I think about it, Bond Street may have been blocked off too), so the roads were completely clear. It was actually really spooky, because it's usually a very busy, loud place. When I got down to Piccadilly Circus, 3/4 of the circle was also empty of cars. It was really eerie, a little how I imagine Times Square will be without cars when Bloomberg shuts it off to traffic (though on a slightly smaller scale). I asked a cop and found out that the Tamil people were bringing their protest against the Sri Lankan government through the area. I didn't stick around to see this, but it turned out to be huge -- 100,000 people, according to this AP article.


I finished up my shopping trip by walking up Regent Street to Oxford Circus, stopping on Carnaby Street again (to see it during the day). Then I went back to the Crofton because my feet were about to fall off.