Day 29: Free in London Part 2

We were off to another early morning so we could pack a lot of activities in for the day! Us girls started out the day on Oxford Street (gotta love it!)... where we went souvenir shopping for a bit and then to tackle Primark for the THIRD time. Definitely made good use out of it, because I got carry-on bags for the plane ride home! Seriously, traveling will be so much easier with the extra space and the carry-on with wheels!! However, carrying it around London was a bit of a different story ;) But that's okay, builds character, right?

We wandered around a few more stores, and then had lunch in a nice little Italian cafe called "Bella Italia." We were in a hurry, so our waiter was nice enough to be really quick for us! We only waited like 5-7 minutes for our food... it was great!

We then headed to Westminster Abbey for an "Evensong" service. It was absolutely amazing! To be in such a fancy and historical church was splendid in and of itself. Add on to that an amazing chorus and wonderful acoustics in the church, and it's just overwhelming. I really loved it!

Here is a recording of the beautiful choral voices! Videos weren't allowed, so this one is super sneaky!

After Evensong, we headed to Harrods, which is a high-end department store, and is the UK's biggest shop.

The store occupies a half an acre site and has over one million square feet of selling space in over 330 departments and 32 restaurants. Up to 300,000 customers visit the store on peak days and there are more than five thousand staff from over fifty different countries that work at Harrods. It is HUGE. And, it's really fancy. There is even a doorman who is all dressed up who opens the entrance door for you and opens car doors too! I was definitely in shopper's heaven in there!

Additionally, there are two memorials in Harrods that commemorate the death of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed. One memorial, which was unveiled in 1998, contains pictures of both of them and a wine glass smudged with lipstick from Diana's last dinner. It also contains the engagement ring (which was ENORMOUS, by the way) that Dodi purchased the day before they died.
The second memorial was unveiled in 2005 and is located by the really cool Egyptian escalator. Entitled "Innocent Victims", it is a bronze statue of the two dancing on a beach beneath the wings of an albatross. The albatross is a bird that is said to symbolise the "Holy Spirit." The designer said he wanted to keep the pair's "spirit alive" through the statue.


The Harrods motto is Omnia Omnibus Ubique—All Things for All People, Everywhere. Several of its departments, including the seasonal Christmas department and the Food Hall, are world famous. Other than that, we really enjoyed the toy shop (it was a really high-class version of Toys R Us!), pet universe (really expensive puppies and designer pet wear...), looking at all the designer handbags and shoes, etc. The most breathtaking room I have ever been in was the room that contained all of the silverware and dishware. It was so shiny! Seriously, someone's sole job must be to constantly keep all of that stuff polished. It was very, very pretty! Even the bathrooms were nice! There was a woman who would check each stall after someone used it, just to make sure it was nice enough for the next person to use it. And, there was rose-scented lotion and perfumes to use as well! So fancy :)

After a much needed Iced Mocha from Starbucks, we headed back to Roehampton! I was so thankful to finally drop off the suitcase I lugged around all day... but hey, at least now I'm a pro at maneuvering it! We ate some dinner at the dining hall, and decided to have a chill night tonight. We played the animal game in the kitchen, and then watched "Notting Hill," which is very fitting because it's a romantic comedy set in Notting Hill, London! Precious :)