I definitely had a magical Saturday this weekend exploring some different bits of London with my Fulbright friend Rebecca. Rebecca is "stationed" in a small town north of London, and she came down to the big city this weekend for a fun visit. I had been invited to speak at the Fulbright Steering Committee meeting on Friday afternoon with Kathryn, another London Fulbrighter (simply because we're local, not because we're fabulous). So after our quick meeting, where we shared a bit about our successes so far and the impact we're having on the kids here, Kathryn and I had a wander around, checked out the National Gallery, then settled into a pub to wait for Rebecca to arrive. As always, it was a comfort to get together with my Fulbright friends and decompress a little.
The next morning Rebecca and I got up bright and early and had a nice breakfast at a neighborhood caff (aka cafe) then headed to central London to catch a London Walks tour of Notting Hill and Portobello Road Market. Unfortunately, the Brixton Tube Station was closed while they did work on the Victoria Line, which is our main connection from Brixton to central London. After a detour via bus, we caught the tube at another station, but were still too late for our walk and missed the group. Disappointed, we set out to explore on our own, making our way to the market made famous in the 1960s film "Bedknobs and Broomsticks." Once we found the market, though, we realized that missing the tour was a blessing in disguise. Instead of cruising around place to place at a forced pace on a tour, we were able to have a lovely meander through the stalls and shops, stopping where we liked and discovering so many treasures we just couldn't live without! The film was right--"Anything and everything a chap can unload is sold off the barrow in Portobello Road." The film also promises "You'll find what you want in the Portobello Road" and that's exactly what happened! In fact, we didn't even know we wanted some of the things we found...until we found them!
 |
| I love the colors of the buildings in Notting Hill |
 |
| Clockmaker Shop |
 |
| Horns...for...? |
 |
| Unique (and expensive) rare books |
 |
| Shiny silver teapots |
 |
| Love these old cameras |
 |
| Such a juxtaposition of the rough and the refined |
 |
| Fur! |
 |
| Trunks to store all the treasures you purchase at Portobello Road Market |
 |
| Classic prints |
 |
| Creepy military gear...check out those gas masks |
 |
| My favorite booth--the old type blocks |
 |
| By far the coolest purchase I've made in London--printing press letters that spell London. The "N" is Gill Sans, which is the font used in all the Tube signage, so it feels even more special to me. :) Also, the holder the letters are sitting on is from 1890, and the man in the booth sold it to me for 10 pounds, like it was no big deal. I guess when you have such a long history in a city like London, 122 years isn't that old, but to me, it's an antique that I'll treasure. |
 |
| And we can't forget the fresh fruit and veg |
 |
| Or you could always go for a huge doughnut instead |
 |
| Look at the size of those bread loaves! |
 |
| Tasty savories |
 |
| More baked treats |
 |
| It wouldn't be an English market without savory pies |
 |
| Rebecca and I enjoying our shoper's high at the market |
Rebecca is really good at finding famous film locations, so we also made sure to track down a couple sites from the Hugh Grant and Julie Roberts film "Notting Hill." We managed to find the store front (which was a bookstore in the film but is actually a shoe shop) and the blue door that was used as Hugh Grant's house (or so we think).
 |
| The storefront for the bookshop from "Notting Hill" |
 |
| Hugh Grant's door in the film |
 |
| Trying to get Hugh to open the door :) |
Since we missed our first walking tour, we were determined to make it to another tour that afternoon: A London Walks "Harry Potter" film locations tour. We bee-lined it over to the Westminster Tube station to meet the tour group. Instead of the tour group, we found this:
 |
| Hundreds of protestors marching outside the Houses of Parliment |
 |
| The protestors were from many different groups, but they were all supposedly marching in protest of the budget cut the government is making. |
 |
| Yay for Democracy! Even though I was annoyed at the protests because it was disrupting our "Harry Potter" tour (I know, I know, priorities) I did feel a bit solidarity with these people who were expressing their Democratic rights. Made me miss my country and my First Amendment. |
Luckily, we were able to find our lovely tour guide, who offered us a discount rate because the tour would have to be adjusted due to the protestors blocking some of the main sights. We decided to go for it anyways and enjoyed learning about the obscure film locations in the "Harry Potter" films from our very enthusiastic tour guide. It was a lovely walk!
 |
| The ticket barrier at Westminster station where Mr Weasley gets stuck in "The Order of the Phoenix" |
 |
| Quick photo opp! |
 |
| Lambeth Bridge where the Knight buses almost collide but squeeze together at the last minute in "Prisoner of Azkaban" |
 |
| Inspiration for the Ministry of Magic |
 |
| The visitors entrance at the Ministry of Magic |
 |
| Trafalgar Square where the death eaters swoop around in the "Half-Blood Prince" |
 |
| The real Diagon Alley |
 |
| Another shot of the real Diagon Alley--notice the shop is called "The Witches Ball." This street is lined with old book shops, collectable shops and even magic shops! |
Our tour left us in "Diagon Alley" and with the rest of the evening ahead of us, we decided to head over to the TKTS booth in Leicester to see what cheap tickets we might be able to find for a show that night. Being quite the movie buff, Rebecca knew that the actor who played Neville Longbottom was in the play "Our Boys," and tickets were under 30 pounds, so we decided to go for it and purchased tickets. Then we spent the evening exploring Chinatown, Soho and then found a cool French restaurant for dinner at Covent Garden.
 |
| Chinatown |
Then, it was time for the show! The play, which told the stories of six young soldiers recovering in a veterans hospital after being injured, was actually pretty heavy. It had an odd mix of comedic moments followed abruptly by very tragic scenes, so my emotions were all over the place. Rebecca and I were actually both a little bummed out as the curtain closed. But Rebecca had a brilliant idea to wait outside the stage door and try to meet Neville (who's real name is Matthew Lewis). We actually met several of the other actors first (and had to pretend to be interested in them and get their autographs just to be polite) and then, finally,
Neville Matthew came out! Both of us got our pictures taken with him, and it was so exciting! He was such a nerdy little thing in the films, but he's so cute in real life. I was smitten!
 |
| Being star struck over Matthew Lewis! |
When people ask me how I'm liking London, as they often do, I usually tell them how much I love it because to me, London is magical. Between the treasures we found and the famous Harry Potter encounters we experienced, that statement couldn't have been more true last weekend!
