Shopping Centres Aren’t For Me!
Tomorrow, I’m going to Sheffield to see Ipswich at Wednesday. As there is now a Carluccio’s at Meadowhall, I thought that it might be an easy place to have lunch before the match.
I’ve booked a ticket out of Kings Cross to get to Meadowhall with a change at Doncaster, rather than go the obvious way of St. Pancras and Sheffield.
So I thought, I’d look up where Carluccio’s was in Meadowhall on the web. They are apparently in the Oasis Dining Area. But can I find a plan, which shows me where that is in the centre? No! Of course not! After all, the one thing I don’t want to do, is walk past every useless shop in the place, as I would expect few would have any goods that I would ever need. But that is what these infernal shopping centres want me to do, as they think I might buy something. But I’m going to a football match and then home to London!
After all, I’m only ever going to Meadowhall for one reason! And that is to have lunch!
In fact this is probably why I don’t use shopping centres. when I go shopping, I generally need some specific things and have a list of shops I will visit to get what I want! I don’t want to walk miles, when I need one specific item.
I suppose you could call it precision shopping. I arrive, buy and retreat immediately.
Often with John Lewis, I just go and check out what I need, write down the stock number and then go home and order it over the Internet.
They must love shoppers like me!
Do Oxford And Regent Streets Need New Buses for London Now?
After breakfast, I walked down Regent Street and didn’t make too much progress, as the pavements were crowded. I eventually got on a bus, but progress was even slower due to an accident in Trafalgar Square.
This double congestion often seems to happen.
Would New Buses for London, with their hop-on and hop-off capability be an asset in getting pedestrians along these streets faster?
I think they would! Remember too, that London’s fare system means that say doing six or seven small journeys on a bus is the same price as one, so you wouldn’t be costing yourself anything.
After shopping, I actually caught a New Bus for London back towards home. Progress was slow due to the same problems as earlier and people seemed to be hopping on and off the bus all over the place.
When these buses were mooted, the dismal Jimmies predicted all sorts of accidents and consequent lawsuits. But I’ve never seen any reports of even any minor incidents.
Perhaps, those that jump off and on are on the whole sensible people? Or as I believe, most people actually know their limitations well. And that includes the ninety-year-old with a Zimmer frame!
Could London have reinvented the people mover? Only when most of the buses on somewhere like Oxford Street are New Buses for London, will we know!
Buying Tissues In Germany
With all my walking in the cold around Munich, my nose was running like a drain. So I needed to get some more tissues!
But could I find any? No! So I asked in a pharmacy and they gave me some free ones.
FreeTissues In Germany
In fact, there seemed to be a total lack of small shops in Germany, like the ones you get all over the UK. So there would appear to be nowhere to buy chocolate, pre-packaged salads and tissues.
I must be going blind, in not spotting them! there doesn’t seem to be too many food shops in town centres either!
Gasometers Don’t Exist
The title of this post is borrowed from an old copy of the Meccano Magazine.
But type gasometer into Wikipedia and you get redirected to gas holder. The origin of the name is given here in Wikipedia. It was supposedly coined by the Scot; William Murdoch.
But they do exist in Vienna and even have their own Metro station called Gasometer.
They are really one of the best examples of converting a redundant structure into something useful. There’s more about them here.
The last time I saw these structures, was when C and I came to a christening in Vienna. We wondered what the virtually derelict brick structures were as we took the train to the airport.
The Pavements Of Budapest
Budapest doesn’t seem to do plain man-hole covers in the centre. They also allow shops to have their name in front in brass.
I would think they don’t have a theft problem.
Window Dressing In The Sun
I took this picture yesterday at Gap in Islington.
Window Dressing In The Sun
It was very cold and perhaps a sunny window was the best place to be.
Is This Because Of The Hour Change?
I saw this sign on a shop near me.
Is This Because Of The Hour Change?
As I took the picture, the weekend of the hour change, it might have been true for one day only.
But does the owner alter it, when the clocks go the other way?
Blue Skies Over London
On Friday, back in London, I was out and about in the morning doing a bit of shopping.
I saw a lot more sun in those few hours, than I did on ten days of the cruise.
The Worst Of British In Gibraltar
If there was a lot of good things from Britain, there were also some that I consider a bit tacky or down-market.
Quite a few of the shops would be familiar to British visitors and there was also a Morrisons supermarket by the docks.
There also didn’t seem to be too many shops selling the usual junk aimed at tourists. I bought nothing in Gibraltar except for a coffee.
A New City Is Growing Up
Forty years ago, when we lived in the Barbican it was a good place to live, and it was very convenient for me to get to my various jobs in the City and for C to get to University College. But it wasn’t a place for living at the week-end.
Now though, with places like One New Change, the City is becoming a complete place to live, work and play.
As it’s only a short bus ride from where I live, I can partake of the good life. I have found in recent months, that I’m visiting shopping centres like Eastfield less and less.
The Anonymous Widower 