A Marketplace of Ideas

This weekend I found myself walking along Portobello Road, Notting Hill, through the markets, which are absolutely amazing, not to mention HUGE. I spent a good two hours there and even then I only quickly skipped through the clothes section. It was just HUGE. They have everything from fresh fruit and veg to antique furniture, jewellery, homewares, clothes, shoes, leather work ... nothing like I've ever seen before, a very different market to those of Hong Kong, which meant no knock-offs or stolen goods, but cool stuff. I went a little mad and bought a whole heap of vintage costume jewellery - it was uber cheap! On the way to the markets from Notting Hill station I passed this:


George Orwell's house

From Portobello Road I headed off to Harrod's, so I got to see a bit more of London that I had not seen yet. After Harrod's, which is just amazing - the Egyptian Hall is incredible - I headed off to Harvey Nichols for some Sushi and found the place absolutely packed, so I didn't really enjoy it as much as I did last time I was there. However, I made an appointment at the hair salon there, Daniel Hersheson's, who is credited with Kylie Minogue as one of his clients. And no, I was not prepared to pay the £250 he charges for a haircut, but I was prepared to pay the £65 for one of the other stylists...so I guess we'll see if that money is worth it next weekend:).

Ah, fickle vanity;).

So after Harvey Nicks (courtesy of AbFab) I decided, somewhat stupidly, to walk to Piccadilly through St James' park which was gorgeous, and it meant I got to walk past Buckingham Palace, and the Marble Arch (below), but I was really wearing the wrong shoes and my poor feet were SO SORE by the time I got to Piccadilly I just searched for a seat somewhere, anywhere! BUt all the daffodils are now in bloom in St James' and it was just beautiful. I took lots of piccies:


Marble Arch





So I got to Piccadilly, sat down, walked to Leceister Square and tried to get tickets for Les Mis, found they were sold out for that night, so tried to get tickets for Phantom to find they were also sold out, which is REALLY weird...usually you can just rock up and get a ticket, as these are shows which play not for days or months but YEARS. I was dissappointed, but took it as a sign from the Gods and so tottled off home, and ended up walkign to Waterloo. A REALLY stupid thing to do when my feet were as sore as they were, but I'm a glutton for punishment. Now the sun is up much later - ie. not setting til about 7pm - I managed to get this lovely picture from the Jubilee Bridge:


London Eye and the Dali Museum on the left, the River Thames, and the Houses of Parliament on the Right

And yesterday I spent the day curled up in bed feeling sick. And because I slept during the day I couldn't sleep last night, which was actually alright - My Fair Lady was on!