Thursday, April 28, 2005


jaw-droppingly expensive

so i wandered down to what the people in wimbledon village call "down on the broadway," meaning the less chic part of town at the bottom of wimbledon hill by the train station. that's where there's a little shopping mall with a whittards.

whittards appears mostly to be a tea-n-coffee gear store, peddling brightly colored tea pots, wacky cups with spots, stripes, and angular handles, flavored coffee in fancy tins, various teas, and candies. i see people walking out with these tins of ground coffee.

so i went into this whittards see what's really inside. and what i saw inside caused my chin to hit the floor -- a standard gaggia classic coffee home epresso machine on sale, supposedly reduced for a mere GBP295 (US$600)! omigod! these things sell in the u.s.a. for only US$500!

refurbished from a reliable dealer, they can be had for even less. . .

yuppers, that extra US$100 is apparently just the u.k. tax! the store also has several other lower end home machines like delonghi etc. at similarly shocking prices.

a commitment to home espresso here in london apparently requires really strong dedication. . .and the willingness to sell your grandmother's kidney. . .

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