Saturday, December 12, 2009

Postcard from the arcade


It is a well known fact that High Streets are hell and shopping centres are soul destroying.  So, when undertaking Christmas shopping, both are best avoided.  Lucky me then, that I managed to support some independent traders in Birmingham's arcades and markets, and am now wearing the smug expression of she who has completed her Christmas shopping.

I also got to enjoy the 'even brighter than New Street's' lights on Birmingham's Piccadilly Arcade (pictured), having spent the previous weekend shopping with a glass of mulled wine in hand on York Road and Poplar Road in Kings Heath during their Christmas shopping event - an experience which can be recreated any evening at the German and Craft Markets in the city centre.

Of course, in Birmingham city centre, much of the shopping available is of the identikit chain type.  Smaller towns fare better.  For those in southern England, may I recommend Antique and Contemporary Furniture and Gifts in Princes Risborough?  OK, I admit to a family connection, but it really is a lovely shop.  And, while I'm confessing, I also admit that I did some of my Christmas shopping online; so now have the tense wait to see if everything arrives on time.  Perhaps a glass of mulled wine while I'm waiting will help...

2 comments:

Timberati said...

Oh you do have the right to boast. Well done.

I do so prefer shopping on line. The virtual crowds are so much less jarring. And I'm always able to find a virtual parking place.

Merry Christmas K. Stay well. Keep writing.

Katharine D'Souza said...

Hi Norm
I quite agree that virtual parking is a virtue of the online mall. I did gloss over the bus journeys taken as part of these shopping excursions. The season of goodwill to all men is forcing me to bite my tongue.

Merry Christmas to you too.
K