Walking Around London

Now it's my turn to blog while I am away from home. Today I woke up early and decided to walk around London for some exercise (instead of heading down to the hotel gym). First, I walked from my hotel, St Martins Lane, which is near Covent Garden to a popular shopping spot near Oxford and Bond Streets where most of the major brands and UK department stores are located. Here is a shot of the hotel - it is a very modern building. The hotel is cool, but the rooms are too small and the design was not very practical for business travellers (there was only one outlet in the room and the lights were annoying).
Along Oxford Street, I went window shopping only since the prices were outrageous - the exchange rate currently for US$1.00 is GPB 50 cents which means everything seems twice as expensive! Along the way, I stopped at Picadilly Circus which is similar to Times Square in New York City. Here is a shot of the red double-decker public buses in London. The photos also shows the sign for the Underground which is what the British call their subway system - it's also called the Tube.
At the end of the shopping drag, Oxford Street runs along Hyde Park which was filled with runners, people playing soccer and tourists like me taking a stroll through the park. Since the roads along the park are too busy with cars and buses, pedestrians must walk underground in order to cross the streets. First stop in Hyde Park was the Marble Arch.
I walked through Hyde Park along Lovers Lane - I thought the trees were very pretty. Luckily, it wasn't raining during my walk.
At the other side of the park, I reached the southeast corner which is known as Hyde Park Corner. Next stop was Harrods which is a huge high-end department store located in Knightsbridge. I was amazed at the number of employees at Harrods from salespeople, security guards and entertainers. The store was packed - I thought it was primarily tourists, but my friends who live here say many Londoners do their regular shopping at Harrods too.
Earlier this year, Daddy and I watched some travel special on Harrods so I was interested in checking it out. Harrods sells EVERYTHING - it is an enormous store that is divided into sales boutiques and specialized showrooms. On the Ground Floor, Harrods sells gourmet groceries (meat/fish, cheese, chocolates/coffees, fruits/veggies, as well as several food stalls for quick bites while shopping). The Second Floor had major luxury brands for women's clothing. I also walked around the Fourth Floor which was dedicated to high-end kids' clothes and toys. What an amazing collection - and wow, it was expensive. I'm glad we have shops like Old Navy in the States so I don't go broke buying your clothes every few months.

After Harrods, I walked along Brompton Road towards Kensington where my friend Andrea Level and her family live. Check out the phone booths in London - the red boxes make them easy to find but I wonder how often they are used since nearly everyone carries a mobile phone.
Andrea and I were analysts at Lehman Brothers in NY, and we sat next to each other for two years; in fact, it felt like we lived with each other since we spent more time in the office together for those two years than at home or out with our friends. In 2001, Andrea married a guy named Jens Welter in London (they met in NY) and now they have two darling daughters named Naomi (almost 4) and Daphne (just turned 2). It was fun to see her little girls since I miss you, little Miss Sophia.
After chatting for a few hours, I took the Tube back to the hotel and got ready to see a Broadway musical called CHICAGO. Since Daddy refuses to watch musicals, it was fun to see a London show. When I get back to NY, I'll see if there are any other plays worth seeing - we should take advantage of the theatre while we live in New York City!