Christmas Shopping in London's West End

Still no travelling. Things are difficult here. But after an afternoon of Christmas shopping, I emerge into the street at twilight, and look up at the big store in the dusk.   Bye for now, John Lewis. 

The bus home is a welcome sight.as it looms up out of the traffic.

So I get on, and up to the top deck. Pity someone's sitting in the front seats, my favourites. Yeah, I always pretend I am driving the bus.  I've done it all my life 

The windows steam up, reflections, a bit of fogginess....we set off home past the big department stores. Now we're passing Selfridges. . 

And a No. 23 bus is going the other way

So many twinkling lights, it feels almost dreamlike up her in the bus, floating above it all.



And something exciting about watching the lights and traffic too.

The traffic's so thick that our bus takes ages to crawl through.   For speed, I should have gone on the tube, but never mind.  The light fades from the sky, the shop windows that we pass seem brighter and brighter

Another bus lumbers slowly past...

Passengers there, talking on their mobile phones...

Now we're away from the shops, passing a garden square with illuminated trees and lights twined through the  iron archway that guards the entrance.

And the bus windows are getting foggier as we pick up speed, heading towards home

This is where I start gathering my bags to get off the bus.  The windows are truly fogged by now but I recognise it because I know it well.

Off the bus. My local high street is still busy. I turn down a quiet side street and am glad to see my own front door. 

And that's today's London Christmas shopping experience. Cup of tea, I think.

Lesser Known London Attractions

Visited a couple of lesser known but favourite London attractions. The first is the Building Centre, in Store Street, W.1. Intended mainly for architects, builders, and those renovating properties, it is also a must-see for anyone interested in the architecture of London.

It has a constantly changing display of exhibitions and galleries - and of course a lot of product information. There's a constantly updated huge model of London, showing new and forthcoming buildngs and projects clearly marked,

and a reasonable little cafe. At present, it has the four contenders for the new US embassy to be built near Battersea Power station. I had wanted to go because the winning design seemed pretty bland. Having seen all the designs, graphics and models, though, I had to concede it was the best of the bunch. The main reason was that it actually looked like an embassy. The others all looked like something else -a concert hall, perhaps, or an office block.

Also dropped by at Selfridge's basement exhibition hall, known as the Ultralounge. It has something called the Museum of Small Things, containing small scale artworks. Interesting idea, and some good (and bad, and mediocre) things to see. Among my favourites was "I Met the Walrus" - an animated encounter with John Lennon, projected onto a pillow. I also liked an animated film by Nomoco, "1163 steps" describing a walk through London most imaginatively and charmingly. The picture shows a gadget like a vacuum cleaner which finds hidden texts. No, I don't really understand it either, becuase it appeared to be broken.

There is also something called "Alice in the Wonder Room" which I managed to totally miss. I'd even heard that my book "The Mystery of Lewis Carroll" might be on sale there but since I didn't see it myself I cannot be sure.

Selfridges is getting more and more to be a fun place to visit for its own sake. I failed dismally to get what I had actually wanted to buy, though - some old fashioned shaving soap in a bowl, for men. I found that at John Lewis, up the road.