51.5160° N, 0.2090° W

Woke up bright and early this morning — we were exhausted after our day in South London! Super excited for today’s journey to the colorful neighborhoods of Notting Hill + Portobello Road! One of my favorite things to do prior to our travels is to watch movies and read books that take place in the areas we are about to venture off to. So, I had to rewatch the now classic Notting Hill with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant.

You know the movie….. William Thacker (Grant) owns a bookstore in Notting Hill and lives a relatively bland life until actress Anna Scott (Roberts) slips into his shop and they eventually strike up a love affair. I’m a sucker for a romantic movie and if it involves scenery of travel spots —- I’m sold! This movie happens to have wonderful scenery of its namesake. Notting Hill.

We walked 10 minutes to the Tower Hill station and hopped on the Yellow Circle line to the Notting Hill Gate Station. The neighborhood at Notting Hill Gate is very busy with both tourists and residents of the neighborhood. There are a number of cafes and bakeries, as well as, a number of funky boutiques and shops.

We headed down Pembroke Road towards Portobello. Pembroke Road has a collection of townhouses with brightly painted front doors….. And, I loved the checkered front steps!

The two mile stretch of Portobello Road is this wonderful mixture of colorful townhouses and an eclectic mix of vintage stores and street vendors. The first thing I thought of was how much it reminded me of San Francisco. These tall victorian homes in their palette of colors next to the menagerie of storefronts and vendors made me think of weekends in The City at home in our California Bay Area.

Portobello Road is busiest on the weekends when all shops and street vendors are in full swing — you’ll find some of them closed during the week (and it’s much quieter). We like it when it’s busy with people bustling about and the Saturday we went did not disappoint. We spent the early morning meandering down the road, and ducking in and out of shops, discovering what each shop had to offer. Kevin found a couple of satchels for work and I found a bright green scarf….. every time I wear it, I think of those pretty buildings in Notting Hill.

After a few hours of shop hopping we started getting hungry and made our way towards the food vendors we could see in the distance but first………. Kevin had a meeting with the Queen herself!

We followed our noses to a “market” of street food vendors. There was a large selection of food for every palate — Spicy Jerk, Curries, Paella, Kebabs…..

Kevin chose some aromatic chicken curry that he said was some of the best he’s had and I had a vegetarian dish from a Peruvian vendor. My dish consisted of a cake made with Quinoa, slit down the middle and filled with spinach, onions, avocado, black beans and topped with a sweet plantain — it was incredibly delicious!

We savored our street food as we listened to the hypnotic sounds of this man playing on his steel drums. Another lovely day in this city of London….. Can’t wait to see what treasures our next day brings!

Happy Travels!