Advertisement
Published: July 10th 2005
Edit Blog Post
Like all hedonistic Londoners at the first hint of sunshine on a Saturday morning we made plans to spend the afternoon catching some rays in the most fitting of places, Hyde Park. But first things first ... we were in need of some decadent picnics supplies to make our afternoon a success so first stop was the infamous Portabello Markets in Notting Hill. We were up early and on the tube heading towards Notting Hill Gate in good time and quite pleased with ourselves. That was until in the middle of a dark tunnel between Earl's Court and Kensington High Street the train came to an abrupt halt. Now this is nothing unusual on the tube system in London but after we had been sitting in the unairconditioned, airless carriage for a couple of minutes we knew things weren't looking too good. We were informed by the driver that we were stuck where we were due to a 'signal failure' and that the engineers were working to get us moving as soon as possible. These messages continued until an hour later, when the engineers figured out that they wouldn't be able to fix the problem, so they arranged to manually set all the signals and let us continue our journey 'at danger'. Phew, thank goodness for that! Trapped in a carriage where no windows or doors can be opened, getting hotter by the minute stuck inside a dark tunnel is not this claustrophoic's idea of fun. I am just glad that the train was not too full. Goodness knows what I will do if this ever happens to me during the peak-hour rush!
I had been dreaming of once again visiting the Portabello Markets ever since our last trip to London in 2001 and my return did not disappoint. Although by now the sun was beating down fiercely the streets were still jam-packed with happy market-goers - both tourists from all parts of the globe and locals alike. Neither of us are particularly good in crowds so we took a deep breath and prepared for the crush. We wandered along the long street lined with stall upon stall of antiques which merged into the food section of the market. We walked past stalls loaded high with fresh fruit and vegetables, drooled over the piles of fresh crusty bread and delicious pastries, and perused the selection of freshly made salads, all the while making a note of what we were going to fill our picnic basket with. A trip to Portabello would not have been complete without a walk under the concrete barriers of the overpass which holds the stalls filled with hand-made clothing, unique jewellery, funky footwear and handbags and retro cds. As we were not yet earning any pounds we decided not to splurge ... but I did come away with a big list of things to come back for.
After picking up our picnic supplies and polishing off some beautiful freshly baked muffins to keep the hunger pangs at bay we wandered through the streets of Notting Hill towards Hyde Park. This is a really beautiful area of the Capital, with row upon row of pristine white terrace houses complete with bay windows ... my dream London locale. We jumped on a passing double decker bus and soon found ourselves at the Bayswater end of Hyde Park. We knew it would be busy but could hardly believe our eyes ... just about every spare piece of grass was occupied by the white flesh of a Londoner, many decked out in bathers working hard on their non-existant tans. It is a very strange sight seeing people sunbaking away from the beach and something that I'm not sure I will ever quite get used to. It is true what they say about the Londoners in the parks getting their gear off at the first sight of sunshine! Being sensible, sun-aware Australians we found ourselves a shady spot and made jibes about how silly the English were sitting in the heat of the mid-afternoon sun. We still both managed to get at least a hint of pink on our noses and shoulders though! After lunch we spent some time people watching, which is very interesting in such a multicultural place as London, before walking through the rest of Hyde Park past the Albert Memorial, the fountain built in remembrance of Princess Diana and the lake where people happily rowed their hire boats. It was a very pleasant way to spend a Saturday afternoon. No wonder the Londoners love a sunny day in the park so much.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.069s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 12; qc: 27; dbt: 0.0423s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Mum and Dad M
non-member comment
i lived there once
Well, guess what I lived in one of those white pristine Notting Hill Gate houses and enjoyed all the eateries around there at the end of my time in London. A page in the Advertiser today on 10 years of Rugby with a picture of Bec and Zoie in a scrum and Kim features too.