Day 8: Shopping Day

We didn’t have any touristy activities planned and NO Olympic event tickets, so we decided to make it a shopping day.  The ladies rested in the morning while I took the tube over to Parson’s Green to meet a friend of Esther’s who had our Olympic Park tickets.  After I got back, we took the tube over to Covent Garden and just got lost in the shops. Staci just loves Covent Garden and I was happy to oblige (I know it’s touristy, but I do like it).  Abby got absolutely lost in Whittard’s Tea Shop with so many options, but she ended up choosing some of her favorites: English Breakfast and Earl Grey.  We grabbed a snack at Jaime Oliver’s restaurant ‘Union Jacks’ (we were none too impressed, actually).  But Abby got some tea in a cute cozy, so it wasn’t a total loss.

From there, we walked up to Oxford Street, after stopping at a Caffe Nero for some coffee for me.  Oxford Street was a complete zoo, with a mix of shoppers, tourists and commuters.  The crowd was so thick it made stopping anywhere a hassle, so we just kept trudging on towards Selfridge’s.  When we got inside the store, we were surprised by how not-crowded it was. We were able to rest our weary feet while watching the US Men’s gymnastic team blow their medal chances.  But on the plus side, we were able to watch the US collapse (and Japan contesting a score and winning a medal) in the huge HD glory of the Selfridge’s electronics department!

After Oxford Street emptied out a bit, we walked back down Oxford Street.  What awaited us was simple: Fish and Chips.  Rated by both Yelp and TimeOut, we were NOT disappointed by the Golden Union Fish Bar!  Crispy, flaky fish and non-soggy chips?  Yes, please!  While there, we ran into a few other Americans who were in town for the Olympics, including a couple who did a house swap and was in town for the entire Games period and a women who actually lived and worked in China, but came to London for the Olympics.  After a long day, it was a tube ride back to the flat and some well-deserved sleep.