London 2016: Day 8

Portobello Road Market
Portobello Road Market

The final day in London.  On the agenda for today were the Portobello Road Market and the Feast of St. George.  I had my last hotel breakfast (I’m not a fan of British style scrambled eggs – too mushy for me) and checked out around 10AM.  Repacking my suitcase took less time than I was expecting.  And I managed to find the piece of fudge I bought in Cambridge!  I left my luggage at the hotel and set out for Notting Hill to explore the market.  I had plenty of company as I crept my way up Portobello Road.  The market is roughly divided into sections covering antiques, new goods, food, etc.  Plus, there are shops lining both sides of the road to stop into.  My only purchase was a custard-filled donut from the same woman I bought one from last time I was there.  One thing I will say about British sweets: none of them are overly sweet.  The donut was good, but left me wishing I had stopped for a scone instead.  Once I got to the end of the market, I wove my way back down Kensington Park Road to the tube.  Along the way, I peeked into several of the neighborhood gardens, almost all of which require a resident key to enter.  They were every bit as beautiful as the one Hugh Grant and Julia Robert’s climbed into in “Notting Hill”.

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London 2016: Day 1

If you know me at all, you know I am not a city person.  I hate the crowds, the noise, the fast pace… pretty much everything about a city.  So it may come as a surprise that I picked London as my vacation destination.  Especially since I was just here last year for a couple of days and spent a week here three years ago.  I know it’s a bit of a contradiction, but as much as I hate cities in general, I love London.  I think it’s the combination of history (I’m not a history person either, so another contradiction…), music, and culture that continues to draw me back.  The British scones certainly have a bit of pull as well!

St. Paul's Cathedral
St. Paul’s Cathedral

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England 2015 – Day 7: Homeward Bound

This morning, I was torn between wanting to lie in bed a while longer and wanting to go out to take some early morning pictures on my last day of vacation.  Knowing I could catch up on sleep when I got home, I was out the door a little after 6 AM.  If you’re not an early morning riser, become one!  Even if it’s only once in a while.  One of the things I love to do at home when it’s above freezing is get up early on a weekend morning and head to the beach for sunrise.  There’s something entirely different about being out before most of the world wakes up.  This morning I had the same feeling I get on those mornings at the beach.  My first stop today was Ebrington.  I wandered around the village for a few minutes taking pictures and then headed off to the field with the sheep near the church in Chipping Campden.  I planned to just stop for a few pictures, but ended up leaving my car and going for another walk on one of the walking paths.  This one crossed the sheep pasture and met up with the second part of the path I was on yesterday behind the church fields.  There was dew on the grass and a low fog over some of the field, and it was just a perfect morning to be out enjoying it.  I passed only two other walkers on my way.

Morning walk through the fields of Chipping Campden
Morning walk through the fields of Chipping Campden

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