4th day in London - Notting Hill and other ramblings

  On our fourth day, we decided to explore my favourite market in London: Portobello Road Market in Notting Hill. As I said before, I am a huge Notting Hill fan, which means this neighbourhood holds a special place in my heart. Not only because it is the set of the movie, but also because it is such an amazing place to live. The market is full of life. There are the antiques shops that bring the past back to life, stalls with cheap prices and the most delicious food that you can try as you pass by. It is just terrific.

  Getting free food in every stall was something that made me incredible happy. Eventually, we decided where to eat: the choices were an amazing slice of pizza and a huge hamburguer with fried onion, cheese and lettuce. After that I bought a crepe with sugar at another stall. Of course I offered a bite to my travel partner. When it came back to me, there was only one last bite left... No one needs enemies when you have friends like that!

  After lunch I when to a Highland shop where I felt in love for a plaid skirt and for many many scarves. Unfortunatelly, I only bought one scarve. The british pound exchange rate it's hard on a women's wallet.

  I promised that we would see squirrels, because they are all over the parks in London. However, we hadn't seen one since we got there, not in Green Park, not in St. James Park, not in Regent's Park nor in Hyde Park. When I first came to London my hotel was in Russell Square, and in Russell Square garden I saw many squirrels, all the time! 

  We were determined to see squirrels so, after we left Notting Hill, we decided to go for a walk in Russell Square before going to the British Museum. As we entered the garden, we immediately saw a squirrel hiding behind a bush. There was also a little girl, with her parents, feeding one. We approached that one and as soon as the little girl stepped away with her parents, I grabbed the only food I had with me: a ham sandwich.

  I put a piece in my hand and waited for the squirrel to come and get it, because he was eating a biscuit on the top of the tree. After he finished the biscuit, he came down to get a piece of the bread. But he was so afraid that he only came close to me after a while.

  After many tries, the squirrel didn't come back to get more bread. Therefore, we continued our walk to the British Museum that we had already tried to see in the day before, but when we got there it was already closing. This time we went early and where able to see the museum properly.

  We went home after a short walk in Oxford Street. That night we went back to the pub after dinner. When the pub closed, we went home and watched a movie.

Third day in London

  As big fans of Harry Potter, we thought we could check out the famous Platform 9-3/4 at King's Cross Station.
  Next, we headed to the Natural History Museum, where we waited more than one hour until we finally entered. Unfortunately, the museum was so crowded that we didn't had the chance to see it properly.

  After we left the museum, we headed to the Royal Albert Hall & the Albert Memorial.

  We had to meet our friend at the National Gallery, so we took a bus to Trafalgar Square. It was the third time I visited the museum but I still loved it. Then, we left the museum and walked to Covent Garden. I must say this is not my favourite market in London. It didn't had many stalls and the quality of the food was lower than I expected. But still, it was nice to stroll around the market.

London, the second day

  On our second day in London, we started by taking the tube to Oxford St, where we went shopping. Then, we walked to the Regent Street, where we visited Hamleys, the most amazing toy shop (for grown ups too!). 

  After that we went to luch the traditional fish 'n'chips at a place called Fish Bone in Cleaveland Street. They serve well and it is far from expensive. We decided to take away and have a picnic in Regent's Park. Of course there are no pictures to prove it because we were starving and it all vanished in a jiff. After we recovered our energies, we strolled around the beautiful park.

  I seriously wish I could live in one of those houses. But for now the photos have to satisfy my desire.

  One of my favourite movies is Notting Hill. If you have seen it, you will understand the picture (unfortunately, Hugh didn't want us to be in this picture together... next time!).

  We also went to Baker Street, to see the famous Sherlock house (big fan of Mr. Holmes here) and the Beatles store. 

  Then we found our way to Harrods, the biggest (and most luxurious) department store in Europe. I must confess we were a bit lost inside. It was a hell of a job to find the place were they sold tea (which I ended up not buying).

  After a homemade dinner at our friends house, we headed to the near pub where we chilled for a while in the company of these gorgeous.

First day in London

  We landed in London at late night and imediately left Heathrow Airport to head to our friends house. After a long tube ride, we arrived and enjoyed our very much needed sleep. The next day, we woke up early and headed to the center. 

  Our first stop was the famous Buckingam Palace, home of her Royal Majesty the Queen of England. There we waited to see the Changing of the Guards, which started at 11:15 a.m. As usually, it was crowded and almost impossible to see.

  After we got tired of the ceremony, we went for a walk to St. James Park, which is right near the Palace. This is a great place to enjoy a nice picnic.

  After our walk through St. James Park, we took a short walk to see the world's most famous clock, the Big Ben.

  On the other side of the Westminster Bridge is the London Eye.

  From the South Bank side we have a good view the Houses of Parliament and the Big Ben.

  After a short tube ride to Tower Hill, we continued our sightseeing walk. The Tower of London is another of the most famous attractions of London.

   We crossed the Tower Bridge.

  Then, we continued walking through the pedestrian embankment: The Queen's Walk.

  Through our walked we passed the Shakespeare Globe Theatre, the Tate Modern and then we crossed the Millenium Bridge towards the St. Paul's Cathedral.

  After walking from one side to another of London, we hoped on a classic London bus to Piccadily Circus, where we "rested" while we saw some shops and visited the M&M World. Then we entered the tube and headed "home".

Golden afternoon

  My favourite part of the day for a walk? Definitely sunset. 

  This makes me happy every time. It's always so quiet, so peaceful, so perfect.

Have a great weekend!

Little paradise

  When it is hot, but not enough to go to the beach, it's good to have another solution. Our alternative was to drive a few miles and explore this natural beauty in the heart of the mountain.

  Here we spent a calm afternoon, swimming and making jumps into the water. It was an amazing afternoon.