NOTTING HILL -- NOTTING HILL
No, you’re not misreading the dateline. I’ve actually been to Notting Hill, a lovely neighbourhood in London that most Yanks recognize from the Hugh Grant-Julia Roberts film by the same name.
I spent a glorious week across the pond with my best friend Myra, poking around palaces and churches, taking tea at the Reubens Hotel, seeing house the 15th Century lived at Hampton Court Palace and what happened to traitors to the crown at the Tower of London.
The weather was a sweltering 68-72 degrees Fahrenheit (16-20 degrees Celsius) and the London tabs screamed we were having a heat wave. Ah, the English.
The English have the urban concept down to a T with walkable shopping districts close to neighborhoods. Each area we visited was self-contained, but the Underground (the Tubes) make each area easy to get to and after just a day or so of studying the Underground lines, we were giving directions to others on how to get around on the Tubes.
A word of warning. Most locals (just like here) have no idea where points of interest are. I mean, generally, yes. But a question on how to find the Globe Theatre gave us the big lie of the trip “Oh, it’s just a 10 minute walk from here. It’s not far.” More than 45 minutes later, we were still walking and found Shakespeare’s landmark AFTER it closed. So much for culture.
But by far, my favorite jaunt of the trip was a day spent at Portobello Road Market. It’s rather famous and bills itself as the world’s largest flea market. According to our guide book, you should get there early – 6:30 a.m. or so – to really see what’s available.
So we did and found that many vendors weren’t even set up yet. But we did get to chat with people that time of day, which came in handy later when we’d been up and down the street and were ready to start buying. They were willing to haggle (they enjoy the dickering over prices) and Myra and I came away with some fabulous treasures from our trip.
My buy at Portobello was a crystal and silver plate biscuit (cookie) jar. The silver needs replating, but the price was irresistible. Myra found great telescopes for her imaginative boys, a gorgeous clock for her husband and a chamber pot she’ll use for flowers in her bathroom.
Portobello Road was worth the trip, to be sure. The stall where My found her telescopes was manned by a couple. Jason and Sarah work it now, but it belonged to her father and grandfather before her. They’ve had the same spot, in front of Portobello Gold, for more than 90 years.
All in all, a lovely holiday all around, despite the weak dollar against the pound. Now, if the Queen would stop following us home…
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