Lucky Duck in London: Harrods

Lucky Duck visits London and shops the world’s most luxury department store.

Harrods. It does live up to its reputation. So much in fact that I went there twice in three days, and I still didn’t see everything. According to Wikipedia, the store sits on 5 acres and has over one million square feet of selling space in over 330 departments. I certainly didn’t get to all of them, but I got to most.

I bought my two souvenirs in the same department

As I entered the grand store, I walked in to a large space that included hosiery, scarves, hats, gloves, fur coats (that cost more than my Mercedes), and umbrellas (London’s most popular souvenir).

I only bought two things on this trip (not counting a bunch of London tchotchkes and a box of macaroons) and both came from this department – a gorgeous umbrella and a beautiful pair of cream and brown leather gloves. I’ve been wanting a black and gold umbrella to go with my new Badgley Mischka Calista Flap messenger bag, and I found it at Harrods. Of. Course. I. Did.

The US dollar doesn’t get you very far here

The exchange rate stinks. When you see how many pounds something costs, you have to multiply it by two to convert it to US dollars. It goes without saying that I didn’t buy the Badgley Mischka jeweled caftan I wanted to wear to Fashion Week next week. It exchanged out to $6,000 big US bucks.

The Arcade is a huge toy store

I was absolutely enchanted as I made my way into a huge toy store called “The Arcade.” It was huge. ”Waiting for a Star to Fall” was playing loud and clear on the speakers. I saw a display of Harrods rubber ducks & the famous Harrods bears, and I had to smile.

The Food Hall is world famous

There are four marvelous food departments where you can sit at a sushi or oyster counter for lunch, buy a watermelon off of a white fruit cart, pick out a selection of chocolates, have a sandwich made to order; gosh I could go on.

You can buy Cuban cigars in the UK

When I saw the sign for Harrods’ Cigar and Wine Shop, it dawned on me that I could buy Cubans, and I did. Later, I would smoke one of these at a park on the Thames, and the other  outside on the patio at The Four Seasons. Sound familiar? What’s the deal with me, cigars, and fancy hotels? At any rate, here’s another short video of me and a Cuban:

The Diana and Dodi memorial was very touching

Dodi Al-Fayad, Princess Diana’s true love, was in the car with Princess Diana when she died in the horrible accident on August 31, 1997. To celebrate their lives, Dodi’s family resurrected this memorial in Harrods to honor the couple. The Al-Fayad family sold Harrods in 2010.

Don’t forget to like Lucky Duck on Facebook to see more pictures and stories from the trip.

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