Wholey Moley! Foods (...Sorry)

Whole Food is a magical, magical place.

In the US, Whole Foods is generally pretty nice: it's stocked full of tasty prepared foods, make your own granola, and strange organic brands that no one but the hippies buy. In sharp contrast, the Whole Foods on High Street Kensington is probably nicer inside than Kensington Palace across the street.

The prepared sushi is sorted on shelves-- brown rice, white rice, cooked fish, raw, hand rolls, sashimi. Then there are spring rolls and bento boxes, plus a smorgasboard of relishes, sauces, and chop sticks to sort through. If you want cheese, there's a whole ROOM of it, contained by blonde wood sliding doors. The wine section is easy to get lost in, though of course there is nothing falling under about 7 or 8 pounds. Moving along...

There's a second, basement level that's easy to get to by taking an escalator. In order to make repeated trips up and downstairs, there's an IKEA-esque escalator for shopping carts going right alongside the people one. A huuge mound of brown and white eggs are displayed prominently, and people can pick and choose their own eggs and put them in the cute little cartons. I went looking for tea and had to take a break and laugh when I reached the entire AISLE of it.

Apparently, parking is free when you spend over 100 pounds. Everyone thinks this is a big joke, because you can't do any sort of real shopping without spending 100 pounds at the bare minimum. Personally, I stuck to some tuna and salmon rolls, green tea with mint, and a carton of mandarin raspberry juice. Delicious.

Next time, I'm going to remember to visit the restaurant upstairs. And also maybe a camera.