What to do When Things Become Ostentatious In London

Knightsbridge is an exclusive district west of Central London. It  runs along the south side of Hyde Park and is a ten minute walk to the Victoria and Albert Museum.  The area is famous as a very high end residential area and for its upmarket shops such as Harvey Nichols. You will find Jimmy Choo and Manolo Blahnik here, as well as Chanel, Prada and such similar stores.   Most importantly, it is home to Harrods.

You realize soon enough that you are in as close a proximity as possible to English Aristocracy especially when you witness Rolls Royces pouring forth their signature clad passengers.

So really, it has to be Harrods.  You realize Harrods is the thing to do in Knightsbridge even if you have to settle for the green shopping bag with the word Harrods emblazoned on it, or perhaps the iconic little teddy bear bearing the shop’s name.

Harrods’ motto is Omnia Omnibus Ubique—All Things for All People. Yes, so you have your shopping bag or your little teddy bear, and you wander around the highly ornamented enclave, gawking at all things expensive.

They even sell gold bars over the counter.

Harrods’ personal shopping assistance program is known as By appointment, and they have a wine steward as well.  The place is opulent, and  some areas quite gaudy.  It has around 330 departments, with a customer service desk for each. They say they have more than five thousand staff from over fifty different countries. They are part of legend -  why they say a baby elephant was purchased here and given as a present to Ronald Reagan and in 1919 an aircraft was sold here! It is also the only place they say, where a proper present for Noel Coward could possibly be bought!

Harrods is a seven floor extravaganza!

Up from the lower ground which focuses on the ultimate in hair styles and men’s designer collections you move up to the areas of splendor: the Egyptian Hall, Fine Jewellery Room, the Room of Luxury and finally The Food Halls! Now if you happen to have just been at the Borough Market , this is the place for contrast:

Seafood displayed in elegance

Edible flowers for the flower eaters

Berries quite properly

Raw almonds

Thai mangoes for international flare!

There is a memorial to Diana, Princess of Wales, and Dodi Fayed, Mohamed Fayed's son. A photograph of the two is encased in a pyramid shaped glass and includes a wine glass smudged with lipstick from their last dinner together. There is also an engagement ring Dodi was supposed to have purchased the day before the tragic accident.

If you are hungry you could possibly have something to eat at any of the wonderful places at the food section.  It will be expensive, but hey, this is Harrods!

So you are wearily saturated and you now long for something quite different and perhaps less expensive.

Well, there is Hyde Park nearby.  Hyde Park -  a wonderful place for a cold drink on a balmy summer.  Its wonderful trees are old and offer cool shade to the hot and the weary. You will find the Speaker’s Corner here, where since the end of the 19^th century anyone may speak up to display erudition – although disappointing the discriminating audience may mean torment by heckling   or even police intervention if the crowds become too unruly.

If all this does not suit you there are other places of escape from ostentation: There is the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Natural History Museum and The Science Museum. If you are interested in modern and contemporary art, you might want to escape to the Serpentine Gallery.

If all else fails, there is always the ride on the London eye. You can even see Knightsbridge from there, actually.