Harrods at Christmas

The original plan was to go to Hamleys to see father Christmas with the children as a special day in memory of my grandmother. Although it wasn't long before Carl from work had convinced me that Harrods was a much better bet.

Trips like this really require a level of pre planning that doesn't sit too easily with me. Give me a "hey lets go now" plan and I'm there. Despite this, my phobia of queueing is stronger and thus I phoned Harrods the day before for some top tips on timing. Their best suggestion was 6pm which is a little late for two young children not to mention two wilting adults. Second best was lunchtime. I was gutted as this made a lie in possible although obviously I didn't in protest*. Not wanting to spend the day rushing around London we decided to just go to Harrods and come home.

We arrived at the station and got on a very busy and late train. After 10 minutes someone very kindly gave up her seat having (eventually) noticed that Sarah was both standing and pregnant. A bit of train trouble in Reading saw the whole train empty and run across to the sardine tin on the opposite platform. There was no way we were going through that so we waited. In a terrific display of irony. We had not only a table but a carriage to ourselves and our train left first... :D. A quick bit of lunch on the train was in order and was alright but nothing special.

Having very cunningly bought a family ticket (even though the kids are too young to need it) we saved a few quid and had three tickets so Hannah and Joes got to operate the ticket machines. Hannah on her own, and me holding Joes. They both really enjoyed that part. Eventually the tube pulled up at Knightsbridge and we strolled along to Harrods. Somebody had decided to use golden Christmas trees that just looked dirty - just like the rest of the building. That said, I doubt a place like Harrods really needs to spend much on the facia of the store.

We went in and straight to Santa. All in all it was about an hour and a half queue, which was both expected and acceptable. Entertainment was provided as were free gingerbread men and bottles of mineral water. Joes slept all the way through so we chatted and played and generally passed time. The big debate was of course the number of cubicles they had. I guessed on four and was right :D. We didn't feel rushed at all when we got in, he was nice and friendly and they took a family photo that we could buy. This was the only cost - purchasing the optional photo for a tenner. That is fantastic in my book as it could mean a trip to see santa in Harrods for a family of four costs as little as £35.20 (train fare). OK, so we are their target audience, we strolled around and played with toys. I went off in search of the gents and covered a few miles in a circular motion listening to everyone i asked saying their virtually pre-recorded response... "down there, left there, you can't miss it". Well I could - and did. It transpires that it was just next to Santa. lol.

By then we were all hungry and we found the planet restaurant. Headline prices were OK. £10 for a chicken breast burger and chips. Till receipt told a different story. £2.10 for a small, and I mean small cup of on-tap coke. Cream tea was nice and the additional touch of offering scones with and without fruit was nice (i don't like fruit much in mine and have been known to spend hours taking them out painstakingly - ok so Becky, next time you eat Chilli and pluck all the kidney beans out first, you can be confident that i'm worse).

We went to a couple more sections and bought some Christmas presents that weren't much more than they would have been in Reading. A Starbucks sandwich for the kids (and coffee for me) accompanied us on the train. I swear there was no chicken in it. Hannah even asked where the Chicken was.... I'll add a picture of it when I find it.

It was a fantastic day out with my family. This will become a regular Christmas event.

*This statement contains little by way of fact