SATURDAY 19th MAY 2012

SATURDAY IN LONDON

This morning we set off for more sightseeing, heading first up for Notting Hill where we spent an hour or so at the Portobello Road markets. Widely known over here for their great variety of things for sale, we were expecting a big crowd and we sure weren't disappointed! The trains were packed and we joined the mob in walking down the Road through every imaginable type of stall, selling everything from clothes and souvenirs to old coins! One place had hundreds, and I mean hundreds of old sewing machines on display!
There were some amazing food stalls with beautiful fresh fruit and veggies, cheeses, cold meats and any sort of bread you could imagine!
Watching the different types of people shopping was entertainment enough by itself!
After that we caught the train to Marble Arch where we checked out the location of the Hertz depot where we are picking up our car on Monday. Den and I both were a bit concerned about the traffic in the vicinity - it was Saturday morning - but the weird intersections and masses of buses and cars at the corner of Hyde Park and Edgeware Road made us think that this was gonna be some experience!!!!!
We walked down Oxford Street for a way, stopping to get Den a unlocked el cheapo phone he can use while we are in the UK, then went to Baker Street and into Madame Tassauds! There were masses of footy fans heading to Wembley for a big game, they were singing and carrying on in fine style! Easy to see why there is so much strife with UK soccer fans - many were already tanked up even before the game, and they were drinking on the trains and in the stations!!!! Mobs of police were keeping the rival teams apart as best they could! Very entertaining!
Madame Tassauds was good fun - again lots of tourists in there - but the life like figures were great to see!
From there we caught another train (the Oyster Cards getting worked overtime!) to Westminster where we spent quite a while at Churchill's Wartime Bunker exhibition. This was a well organised and extremely interesting place, with a great audio commentary and the way they have left so many of the rooms and tunnels in the exact state they were during the War is a credit! We can thoroughly recommend this as a "must see" if you visit London.
By now it was around 4pm and we were starting to flag a bit so we headed back to Earls Court and our local Tavern where Den and I slaked a hellava thirst with some Coronas while the girls polished off a jug of Pimms!!! We had one hilarious moment when Den's new phone rang and he proudly announced that people were always wanting him, only to find that although he flipped open the new little Samsung, the ringing didn't stop!! He then realized that it was actually his other phone ringing and hadn't recognized the ring tone!!!! EMBARRASSED!
Feeling much refreshed we went back to the hotel for a shower and tidy up, then had dinner at a local Wagamamas restaurant which was very nice.
It has been a huge day today! We have walked literally miles, but we have crossed so many "things to do" off our list, which is why we came here after all, so we are all feeling pretty pleased with ourselves!
Gonna find some time for laundry duties tomorrow as the stocks of clean clothes are running very low!