Sunday Shopping

After a very well earned sleeping day on Saturday, I met up with Suzie again on Sunday to go shopping and check out Notting Hill. Met up with her on Oxford St - street of all streets for shopping! Went into numerous shops and resisted buying many things (it's all so much more expensive when you convert everything back to AU$! Will be much better once I'm earning £'s). Suzie didn't resist quite so much and ended up with a few things - all pink to our amusement! But they were all really really lovely, so I don't blame her :)

Once we were all walked/shopped out (on Oxford St in any case) we caught the tube to Notting Hill and kept our eyes peeled for blue doors and the Portobello Markets. Turns out there are lots of blue doors in Notting Hill - not sure if they came before or after the movie? and a travel book shop like the one in the movie obviously set up for tourists (we saw a few people having a photo out the front but we resisted - it seemed kinda tacky...). Also turns out we don't read signs enough - after walking for what seemed an age in what we thought was the right direction for the markets we gave up and went back in the direction of the main road - only to then see a sign pointing in the direction of the markets - where we'd just come from! So we turned around and set out once again. Eventually found it, in a very round about way! By that time a lot of the shops were already closed up for the night, but there were still a fair few places open - so cool. I really like Notting Hill - it had a very cool vibe about it.

Walked back to the main road via all these cute little streets - one where George Orwell had once lived! Stumbled upon so many cute little shops with the most gorgeous dresses - I had to buy one, it was just so lovely! Heaps of vintage shops too. Loved it. Made our way to Kensington Gardens and had a lovely stroll through said gardens. Very pretty, although it was turning very cold - very odd sort of day, was sunny and bright and hot for parts of the day and the next thing you knew it was raining and cold! Ah, good old London... Anyway, saw some squirrels in Kensington Gardens - cutest little critters! They're so bouncey, they don't just run, they bound! So cute. Looked like real tourists when we got the camera out and started clicking away!

Managed somehow to end up on the other side of the gardens coming out by this enormous statue of Albert, across the road from Royal Albert Hall - looked very schmish. Went back via Kensington Palace and ended up in this quaint little Italian place for tea, where our 1/2 sized bottle of wine was the most expensive thing we ordered! Hmm... Got a pizza to share - man, those Italians sure know how to make pizza! Can't wait to go to Italy and try out the real thing in the real country! But we reckoned the pizza from an Italian restaurant in England should be better than an Italian restaurant in Australia, if only for the proximity to Italy... and I reckon we were right. It was very good pizza.

Headed back into the city with our bellies full and warmed by the wine, only to find the stop we wanted to get off at was closed for the night - grr! So had to get off at a different stop and walk. And walk and walk. We wanted to walk along the Thames at night... We eventually got there. And it was very pretty to see Westminster Abbey all lit up by lights, and Big Ben illuminated against the night sky, and the London Eye standing tall and stark on the other side of the river.

By this time it was way past my bedtime (still feeling very sickly and all) so we made our way to the nearest tube and caught the very last train for the night home! They close early on Sundays - it was only around 1/4 to 12. Said seeya to Suzie on the tube and just managed to make the connection for the last train to my stop - thank goodness, really didn't feel like any more walking!!