The spirit of Christmas

Well, today we were almost caught up with the spirit of Christmas.
Another visit to Southampton’s West Quay shopping complex, and while we did not much fulfil our aim of Christmas shopping, we — or rather Jill  — was able to pursue a quest to find Christmas attire at a few of the fashion stores.
We did manage some Christmas shopping, although to a degree we were to become disillusioned by realising we could order the same thing online from the same store for £10 less. It’s a bizarre situation but does bring home the reasons for the growth in popularity of online shopping.  Come to think of it, my visit to West Quay yesterday was to collect an online order, also at a considerably lower price  than I had seen it priced in the store.
The one thing that online shopping does not give you however, is the sense of occasion, the buzz of the place, and the chance to look around. Although when the place is packed with similar Christmas shoppers to us, I am not sure that enduring an hour or two of pushing and shoving is actually welcome.

But it did give Jill chance to pose by the gigantic Christmas symbol of a tree, and drink in the atmosphere.