Forget London!

Harvey Nichols opened in Dubai.
This could only mean one thing: A Financial Disaster for me.
No wait, let me rewrite that:
A FINANCIAL DISASTER FOR ME!

Understanding my situation, I made sure I delayed my visit to HN as long as humanly and tolerably possible.

On Friday afternoon I went out shopping. I had to find a gown for the coming all hush hush family event.

The plan was to start the shopping trip from Ibn Battota Mall and go all the way to Deira passing all the shopping malls in between.
The second mall enroute is of course Emirates Mall.
And I went into HN with a mantra repeating endlessly in my head “I’m only going to take a LOOK and JUST at the gowns.”

Just going to take a look at the gowns!!! HA!!

I actually didn’t go and look all around HN, an accomplishment which I’m proud I was able to delay to another date. I just looked at one department (the women casual wear) and came out with two bags!! And a huge dent in my bank account that made me detour back to home immediately instead of continuing to Deira! And no, the gown I went shopping for was not in any of the bags!

While drinking in the euphoria resulting from the purchase, I couldn’t shake the strange feeling that engulphed me when I came out with bags from HN in Dubai and not in London!!

Visiting Harvey Nichols on Knightsbridge was always the highlight of the shoppings trips my family had during our summer vacations in London. We would dress properly for the occasaion (you need to wear your best when shopping at the best!), take the District lane from Richmond to Hammersmith change to Picaddily Lane (save on the transportation so you can spoil your self without any guilt) and spend the full day roaming the different floors of Harrods and HN.
When I lived in London, however, Harrods lost its appeal and Harvey Nichloas became the favorite stop for shopping. Even during the sales, HN remained glamourus!

And now, Harvey Nicholas is in Dubai! Admittidly not as big as I would have loved it to be, but definetly large enough to think more than few times about going to London. What other attractions left in London? The milkman stopped bringing the glass milk bottles with the fresh loaf of bread every moring ages ago. The black taxis have disappeareed long time ago. The red telephone booths and the red double deckers are all gone. Nothing left in London for me now, but the memories of childhood and school, that like the rest of London’s features will end up in a junkyard. This junkyard. Sooner or later.