Monday was a very adventurous day. If I could just map out for you all of the places I've walked in the last four days, you would probably be amazed at how much ground I've covered. I couldn't do it without Scott though. He is the navigator. We had a later breakfast today. Janice asked us when we wanted to eat and I just said whenever it was convenient for her it's convenient for us. She said "we usually eat at a quarter to eight" and what that meant was the time she thought we might like to eat. Albert doesn’t even eat breakfast and she only usually has a bit of toast. What this means is that Janice has been making us breakfast just to be kind. Isn’t she wonderful? The answer is yes. So, today we had an omlet and wheatbix...and tea of course. Just scrumdidleyumptious!
We didn't really have any solid plans but Albert's friend Ray suggested that we check out Portobello Road. We mentioned wanting to spend time at the famous markets of London and Protobello Road was his suggestion. He said that this market is known for it's antiques and for being in Notting Hill. Thank you Hollywood. Scott and I had SO much fun walking down the road looking at all the lovely homes. Once we reached the real hub of the market our first stop was this fabulous antique shop. It was a manly man's sort of place complete with leather luggage stamped with initials, polo playing gear, top hats, cricket gear, hip flasks, martini shakers, and all sorts of manly gear. Scott was just in heaven! I told the girl at the counter that the man who owns the shop should try to advertise on The Art of Manliness (Scott's favorite blog) because the whole looking-to-the-past-for-inspiration-in-how-to-dress-and-ac-thing is really trendy. There were some street vendors out selling foods and jewelry and hats. I loved these little feathered hats with netting that comes over the eyes, very high fashion and vintage at the same time. Scott and I indulged in a banana and nutella crepe made right there on the street it was decadent but we decided that we deserve it!
We also made a stop at a clock shop and Scott introduced me to the Atmos clock which operates with the power of atmospheric pressure. Our last couple of stops were at vintage clothing shops. I ADORE fluffy 1940's and 1950's style dresses. Always have. I was vintage before vintage was cool. Dressing up in my grandma's clothes. Her old gloves, purses, shoes, and jewelry. Just as I was beginning to feel that Scott was bored of shopping with me, he would lead me into another one. My favorite shop was called One of a Kind and you had to ring a door bell to get inside. I think either they were trying to keep track of how many people were shopping at once or they were trying to determine if people are cool enough to enter. As it turns out, Scott and I are cool enough. We stepped inside and there was this group of about 5 black people who were hanging out and chatting. I'm not sure who was working there and who was just hanging out but they were just such warm and friendly individuals! I felt like much of the store was 60's and 70's Afro style stuff and I was all over it! I picked out this blue 1950's cocktail dress...looked at the price tag....and put it down. It was something like 500 pounds!!! The girl at the counter just said to try it on for fun and I thought, what the hay, I might as well! It fit me like it was made for me. I thought it might be fun to run out and show the worker/ hang out group how it looked and everyone was just raving. Maybe to make a sale or maybe because they genuinely thought it looked nice. Whatever the case...I felt like a total babe but, still decided not to blow all that money on a vintage dress. Scott picked out this other dress. Similar style only a day dress with a lower back. By the way, sorry if this is boring for anyone reading this :) I tried that one on and, of course it fit wonderfully! I went out in that one and one of the worker/ hang out peeps said "wow, these fit you so well, you could model these clothes". I said "sure, if I get them for a discount!" No such luck. It was fun nonetheless. We chatted with the kids in the store for a bit and had lots of fun just kinda making friends. They told us we were welcome to come back which I felt was more of an invitation than a business offer. You know what I mean? We are officially cool.
Scott and I headed back for lunch at a cafe called Charlie's that we saw earlier. It was tucked away between a church and some flats for let. There was blooming wisteria and vines all around this little crevice where the outdoor dining area was and we had the most delightful lunch. Fresh baguette sandwiches and for desert...my favorite...a chocolate croissant! The food was, as the British would say, beautiful.
We headed to Waterloo to begin a walk down the Thames to the Millenial Bridge and then St. Paul's Cathedral. It was a chilly walk and we took refuge in another concert hall for a brief moment as Scott uses the loo. I stood in the lobby listening to a local musician sing her original jazz and folk music. We walked past a skate park and watched local kids and graphic artists roam this territory freely; the artists tagging the walls and the skaters practicing their stunts. This city is just vibrant and full of energy. We walked to St. Pauls and sat on the stairs watching the sun start to set and watching as the double decker busses passed.
We walked to the south bank of the river again and found the Clink museum. oooo, what a treasure that was! We each paid 3.50 pounds to enter this thing. Scott and I were kinda wondering what to do at this point. We still had so many hours left in the day and were not quite ready to head back to Wimbledon. Well, we happened upon this little jewel and decided to give it a try. It was, after all, labeled as the most notorious renaissance prison. After the tour, it was obvious that this was self proclaimed. I about died laughing as we walked past these silly dressed up dummies that were just collecting dust, in the museum owners very sad attempt at creating a "prison scene". There were tools of torture and confinement and signs explaining each one. My favorite was for a woman who couldn't hold her tongue and was sent to prison for slander/ gossiping. There was this metal contraption with a tongue hold on it that would be locked around the prisoner. Underneath the sign explaining the contraption there were "interactive questions" for children. One of the questions was "do you think this item might be used in your home if still used today?" Underneath the display on whipping the question was "for what reasons might you be whipped?" Oh. My. Goodness. I laughed so hard I almost peed. And, imagine this, at the end of the tour, we ran into some fellow BYU students who are not studying abroad but just visiting. Go figure!
Scott and I boarded the underground and just as we were thinking about heading back, I decided we needed a little more adventure. I said "why don't we just get on the train and pick a stop and get off and see where we are". So, we did just that and it turned out to be....a flop. My plan failed so miserably that I don't even remember the name of our first stop...it was that lame. The good news is, we decided to give it another try. We picked another stop that we had never been to before. It sure sounded exciting...Picadilli Circus! It turned out to be a blast. I felt like I was in the Times Square of London. There were huge screens on the side of a building with advertisements, lights, clubs, and musical theatres. It was a relief to see that there is a part of London that doesn't close at 5! Ha. I knew it had to be here somewhere. Scott and I found China town, London. It was about a half a block long but it seriously had these gates at either end making it clear that this was the real deal. As we walked past a bunch of night clubs I saw neon lights in the distance spell "ESCAPE". I said "ooo, Scott lets go check out es-ca-pay (Finding Nemo style). Yea, we had a seriously good laugh. I actually had to stop in my tracks and take a breather because I was laughing so hard.
Finally we headed back to skype with my mum. Albert and Janice got in on the conversation also. Albert got pretty excited about the whole video chat thing. So excited that he decided he would have to buy himself a webcam. It really was a JAM packed day! We were all over the place today and I loved just flying by the seat of my pants.
No comments:
Post a Comment