Monday, 8 June 2015

8 June 2015 - New shoes and some Girls' Time

We are settling into just "living" in London doing "normal" life. First on the agenda today was new shoes!!!  Luke, Annika and I skipped on up to the Kilburn High Road to the shoe stores there.  We quickly discovered that Annika's feet are larger than average and not easily catered for.  Luke quickly found the best "grippiest" runners and was eager to put them on.

We have noticed, more than once, that salespeople here re different from at home.  When you go into a shop at home, you are generally greeted, and asked if you need any help, etc. Here, however, we have found that we can walk around without interruption or offer of assistance which is a bit disconcerting as we know the sales people are watching our every move.  Just one of the differences...

Back to school until lunchtime.  Tim is slowly improving health wise but has been knocked sideways with his infection.

Liberty Store
 Annika and I decided to go to Oxford Street to buy her shoes as we had seen a few big sports stores there.  Her Oyster card (travelcard) expired for the two weeks half price as that is what happens after a fortnight.  The ticket office was closed so she travelled on full fare into Oxford Street.  We quickly found the sports store and after helpful sales assistance there, we bought the "coggly" (comfortable but ugly) shoes.  Apparently purple and black aren't quite what she wanted but the choice was limited for her size.
More lovely architecture
It was time to explore the back streets, the Liberty store, Soho Square and then back to the hubbub of Oxford Street.
Buildings down Oxford Street

More lovely styles.

Soho Square...."See them down in Soho Square, dropping aitches everywhere" (My Fair Lady)
 It is always lovely to spend individual time with each of my kids so Annika and I thought we'd make the most of it.  I knew she had been eying off a Starbucks frappuccino so we did stop at the Starbucks in Wardour Street.
Afternoon with Annika!

Annika has been eager to try one of these!

...and she wasn't disappointed.
When we got back to our station, we remembered to ask for the new Oystercard for Annika but alas we can only buy one in Zone 1 and we are in Zone 2!  We are still learning in London.

After dinner the kids wanted to go to the park to test out their new shoes.  There was a bit of drama in the park with some youths chasing a terrified kid with police then cruising around.  The park is a happening place with a sport area, dogs, playgrounds and a really community hub.

4 comments:

  1. A lovely day! Hope Tim is improving, poor thing :(

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    1. Tim is gradually getting better but has the end of semester load to complete and he just wants to finish it and so he can actually take a break...how did your boys go with first term?

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  2. Yes the end of semester load was HUGE for Greg, not too bad for Matthew (yr 9). Greg could've been up till midnight most nights finishing off work for art and vis comm mostly. It was actually a relief for him to have exams last week, so he could concentrate just on revision. He's got the next couple of weeks to get a head start on semester two, so he can hopefully have a break over the holidays. It really is an enormous amount of work and I don't know how Tim manages while being away :/

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    1. Very stressful for the whole family I reckon. Tim is pretty stressed by it all and not keen to do much exploring until the two week break...and he'll need it. I know about the midnight work, too. Roll on holidays I say! hope you ll stay well and do get a good break and lots of sleep ins!

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