London Calling

I worked in London for a while, before I started working in Wales. I took every opportunity I could to go shopping. Even if I didn't buy anything, I loved looking at the amazing stores. They say that England is a nation of shopkeepers, and some of the small, exquisite shops I visited proved that adage. Today, I am going to focus on some of the larger stores. Not Harrods or Liberty, but stores that are more one-off.

The King's Road off Sloane Square was one of my favourite places to check out. It is home to Designer's Guild, home of Tricia Guild. Her two stores are close but not adjacent. One features her fabrics, wallpapers and paints and the other has her accessories, including bedlinens. The colours Tricia uses are so bright and cheery. The Designer's Guild website has some great PDF files of their goods.Another favourite is Heals, sort of a department store with home furnishings and bath and kitchen accessories. I found the amazing soap there that I hand-wash my cashmere sweaters with - I Coloniali. They have great contemporary furnishings, a wide assortment of books and stationary. Heals also has a large store on Tottenham Court Road.

Antiquarius is one of the oldest antique centres in the London, with more than 80 dealers located in a great atmosphere. If you can get there during the week, you've got more of a chance to have a chat with the dealers. It's always worth a pop in there to see what the dealers have on offer.

The bad part right now is that London's very expensive - even more so than usual. Since the dollar is so weak, about $1.97to £1.00, you will get a real sticker shock. The good side might be that becuase British Air was scheduled for a strike last week, but ended up not having one, they may have some quick deals on flights.