Wednesday 13 February 2008

A trip to the Mall

Last week we had a trip to the Mall
This is Bluewater Mall and my choice today as I wanted to visit my favourite deprtment store
John Lewis
We needed to replace both my washing machine and my tumbler dryer
My washing machine still worked but after 15 years there were some problems with it
My dryer worked fine but I wanted a condenser dryer so that I did not have to
stick the pipe out of the window
Not a good idea to have a window open when it is pouring with rain
Having made our purchases, along with a few other things
I thought I would let you have a peep into this particular mall








Lots of sculpture depicting different trades



Roses filling the air with their rich dew incense of evening prayer





Old Father Thames






It was 18 degrees celcius

I tried to book a bed for the night


We did not eat at TGI Friday's today



Nor at the Sushi Bar


But we did visit Krispy Kreme after a sandwich lunch at Marks and Spencers


and I chose a Lemon Merangue doughnut



This mall is built into an old disused quarry site






We are now on our way home and as Bluewater is the other side of the river
we have to cross the Thames
Going South one drives over the bridge seen here

and going North one drives through one of two tunnels
see bridge still overhead


Once on the other side we visited IKEA
I wanted another bathroom cabinet
the one I wanted was discontinued
so I chose another fairly similar one
The next morning when Alan came to unpack this flatpack item all the screws and one part was missing
So after lunch it was back onto the motorway
This time we found that someone had returned the one that they had as it was not what they wanted. It happened to be the original one that I had wanted
So what initially seemed like a nuisance turned out to be a blessing in disguise



16 comments:

Teresa said...

What a pretty mall. Unless I just feel like browsing, or I am looking for something in particular, I really do not do the mall often. This was a nice treat. My family is a big Krispy Kreme fan. When we moved to the midwest from the coast of Maryland, there were no Krispy Kreme stores. I was surprised. In recent years, they made their way here. We have one not too far from my home that you can watch the doughnuts being made. It is amazing! My grandchildren love that trip! Okay, so do my daughters and I. I usually go for the glazed lemon filled, maple glazed, or that all time favorite, the original glazed. Yum. It looks like you had a really nice and successful outing.

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

Oh what fun! I've been with you on a drive to the mall, and a tour of the mall. That is not just your everyday mall...I love the sculptures and interesting decor. What do they do if the temp goes up over 23?? Does the globe on top light up red (just kidding)!

Wow, Krispy Kremes, I am surprised (I don't know why I should be suprised; it's a global village these days). And TGI Fridays is a place I know well!

It was a very big deal when Krispy Kremes made it to California about 10 years ago (before that I think they were only in the South?)...my boss was originally from the South, and he bought the entire office of 500 people boxes of KK's when we moved into our new building.

duopastorale said...

Looks nice. I like the clock tower.
This I Do...

Jeanne said...

Beautiful indeed.
Lots of fun shopping adventures here.
Love Jeanne ^j^

Linds said...

Now this is familiar territory, Barbara. My son lives close to Bluewater, and I love Ikea!

Paula said...

Wow, that is so cool. You guys have all the shops and restaurants we have. TGIFridays, I thought was only an american thing. Oh Barbara, crispy cream, how could you do that to us. I want to reach through the screen and grab one of the chocolate covered ones!
P.S. couldn't get the attachement to work, Oh well :(

Susan Skitt said...

Oh we just got a new washer and dryer this summer. My washer circuit board kept burning out.

Nice mall. You always seem to have such fun little trips together with your hubby.

I love Krispy Cremes too! They're so yummy. I'm partial to the Boston Cremes. I don't think I've tried the lemon ones, but they sound delicious.

Vee said...

Your mall is very nice and has so many shops that I'd love to have here. We don't have Starbucks at our mall...we do have a Starbucks, but it is a building separate from other stores. We don't have IKEA; we don't have Krispy Kremes. Obviously, I live on the fringes of civilization.

Guess that the Lord wanted you to have just exactly what you wanted. That's pretty cool.

Nonnie said...

That bridge scares me so much I would happily drive all the way round the M25 to avoid it. Lucky that I live almost directly at the other side of London so it makes not a lot of difference to me to drive clockwise or anticlockwise. Used to go to Blue Water a lot when I lived in Greenwich. I'm not usually a fan of malls but it's not such as bad one and I like the way it's set in the quarry side.

Anonymous said...

How fun to travel with you! I wonder how many nuisance-turned-into-blessing things we can list if we tried...

Lorrie said...

No Krispy Kreme here, nor TGI Fridays. I do like the architectural details in the mall.
Thanks for writing about your day.

Cape Cod Washashore said...

Wonderful photos! I've been to John Lewis in London before and liked it very much. Also Marks & Spencer was a favorite (the last one we visited was in Montreal). As for Krispy Kreme, they became oversaturated in our area and have been closing down (I think our area prefers Dunkin Donuts, as it is where Dunkin Donuts has its roots). Looks like you had a fabulous time!

Happy Valentine's Day to you!

Unknown said...

I had no idea there were malls in England!

Anonymous said...

Barbara thanks for that lovely trip round outer London. My Mum grew up in Hounslow and talks about London often so to see a little peek now and then is just lovely.

Susan said...

Fancy mall!!! and another nice travel with you two.
Susan

Betty said...

Barbara,

What a beautiful mall....I could easily spend a day there.....

I read so often of Marks and Spencers...a hamper packed by Marks and Spencers.... in novels.....that would be a treat for me to have one of their sandwiches...Betty