Christmas Shopping: Milton Keynes

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Today we’re on a mission – a mission to finalise the Christmas pressies. We picked up Lee just after 8am (!!!) and headed for Milton Keynes, where we joined Nicki for a joint operation.

We arrived in good time – just a few minutes before John Lewis opened and huddled outside until the shutters went up (it was ffffreeeeezing today). First stop was the first-floor, and the electronics department – more specifically, the Kindle display. I’d decided that it was time to invest in one and was looking forward to seeing the latest versions – specifically the latest ‘paperwhite 3g’ variant (launched the previous Thursday). Unusually for John Lewis, their product knowledge was virtually non-existent about this model, and what’s more they had none on display nor in stock – a VERY disappointing start to our shopping spree!

Undaunted, we carried on with the rest of the shopping and fortunately had a lot more success with the remaining gifts on our list.

Mid-morning approached and so we headed for Costa for a well deserved pitstop and a nibble.

Suitably refreshed and refuelled, it was back on the shopping trail. Next stop for me was House of Fraser where I was hoping to spend the voucher Nicki had bought me for my birthday and although there was plenty to look at, nothing really caught my eye.

It was now approaching lunchtime and the shopping centre was filling-up, so we decided to stop for an early bite. Initially, we thought we’d try Zizzi’s,  but Ann spotted Jamie’s Italian,  an Italian restaurant owned by the iconic, err, Jamie Oliver. We’d not tried this chain before, but we’re glad we did! Superb customer service with an excellent menu with our food cooked to perfection, bursting with flavour – Yum!!!

Slightly stuffed, we staggered back in amongst the now heaving central shopping area. We headed into M and S to get a few last-minute bits and pieces. Not long after, it was ‘job done’ and after bumping into Jo and Janet, we left Nicki to finish off her shopping whilst we headed back to the car with only a few minutes left on the ticket.

It was a straightforward journey home (apart from the predictable jam through Olney), and after dropping off Lee, we arrived home, unpacked and settled down to an evening of TV.

All-in-all, apart from the Kindle-calamity, we had a really productive day – Christmas is sorted!