Day 93 of 400: Notting Hill, London – United Kingdom

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We started with our buffet breakfast in the lounge of our Marriott which was complimentary and then decided to grab a subway (what the English call the underground) to see what the Portobello market was all about which was located in Notting Hill.  This by the way would be mom’s very first subway ride!  She decided it wasn’t so exciting once she realized it was very similiar to an air tram at the airport.

We figured our way through the stations and over to the market.  Notting Hill was charming with buildings lined up one after another painted in pastels.  The market is on Portobello and usually would have had many more stalls on a Saturday but we were there on a weekday so it had more of a local feel.  There were dozens of little shops lining the street-antiques, clothes, food etc.  We took our time taking in the scene and looking through boutiques.

We had worked up an appetite and no visit to London would be complete without a visit to Harrods.  We took a subway over to the huge renowned multi-level department store and watched moms eyes light up as we walked through the elaborate food halls.  Everything seems sumptuous here…the candy room has all types in various shapes and sizes with giant lollipop displays and a ice cream counter serving huge sundaes.  The bakery with all types of baked goods or the seafood room with a huge counter in the middle dedicated only to caviar.  Then there’s the tea room with every tea leaf you can imagine and the meat room tempting you with multiple meat options.  The level below consists of the giant wine room which represents every region of wine you can think of with a big screen that teaches you what smells are found in wine.  Is this Disneyland for adults?  And there is shopping on all the other levels!!

After making a few purchases we settled in at the coffee shop upstairs where we could watch the green coffee beans roast before our eyes.  We munched on some candied figs and nuts we had purchased from the grocery food hall which also had various fruits and veggies.

We decided to get back to our hotel where we got back into our comfies, kicked off our shoes (since our dogs were barking) and had a picnic on our beds while we relaxed and watched TV.