quilted jackets, lebanese brunch, cooling breezes

Later start to this morning, justified by the fact that we’re not going very far—just down the road to check out Notting Hill! We don’t have too much of a plan for the area besides a visit to Portobello Market, so we meander to that area. As expected, the road is completely chaotic. Hundreds of tourists crowd the various stands filled with watches, jackets, bags, and kitschy London-themed souvenirs. It’s all a bit overwhelming, so we march through sort of dazed.

In Paris, Abby had taken an interest in a girl wearing a red quilted jacket from Portobello Market, so we had to go check them out here. There are two to three shops here, and she ends up buying this nice blue jacket with flowers at the first one we go into. It’s also reversible, so she thinks she’ll get a lot of good wear out of it. These shops are absolutely packed with these quilted jackets—every pattern and color you could possibly imagine absolutely already exists in these shops. At the second shop, she finds a makeup bag set with tigers on it, which she plans to use as a book bag. We also poke around their pajama section, and we both end up buying a set. The shop owner tells us his brother lives in San Francisco, and promptly shows us pictures of him in Yosemite, asking if we know it.

We don’t end up buying anything else at the market—it’s just a bit too much, both with the quantity of items and people. So we ditch into a side road, where we end up finding Notting Hill Bookshop by coincidence, packed with fans of the movie. It’s hard to move around in there, and difficult to exist in, even if you’re not the type to become claustrophobic. They had some nice items in there, but Abby and I are starting to hit some book shopping fatigue, so we can’t endure a crowded, hot bookstore at this point. Next door, I bought a doughnut, which was actually quite good, albeit it being much too expensive.

After, we walk to a nearby park, and sit while Abby tries to get the Akinator to guess different Heartstopper characters. But we’re meeting our friend Jade for lunch, who we haven’t seen for two years, so we walk further into Notting Hill after about ten minutes of sitting.

The first spot we chose for brunch was closed for a special event, so down the street we went on a quest for alternate options. The second spot we saw was just closed randomly, so even further down the street to search for alternate options. Finally, we end up at a place called Salwa London Bakery, which serves Lebanese-inspired brunch. Abby gets this French toast absolutely drenched in chocolate syrup and caramel, which looked ultra-sweet (and was, confirmed by the diner herself). Jade gets shakshouka, and I get a chicken wrap. After lunch, we introduce Abby to the wonders of a Flying Tiger, and understandably, she’s mind-blown. She buys some containers for her dorm, but it turns out she accidentally just bought two container lids. It was very nice to catch up with Jade.

We head back to the apartment to drop off our new purchases, and somehow this turns into me falling asleep. I accidentally stayed up quite late last night typing yesterday’s articles (the things I do for my fans) (hi Mom and Dad). But don’t worry, I started earlier tonight and hope to be finished by eleven thirty. I’d probably be finished faster if I stopped writing about my bedtime and got on with the day.

Once we wake up, we rush down to Five Guys, eager to see the Paddington Musical. We’re absolutely outraged how much a stupid burger from Five Guys costs here, but we gulp it down and rush to the theater, only to realize we accidentally got tickets for twenty-twenty-seven. I learn two things about myself here.

1. I really love Paddington, even more than I thought I did.

2. I really do have a flair for the dramatics.

Let’s just say this isn’t the first time I’ve cried over something Paddington-related.

To make myself feel better, I led us to Waterstones, where another Devastation occurs. The travel writing section (my fave) is blocked off for a romantasy event, where three authors are doing a panel and talking about their new books and writing process. I do believe people can enjoy whatever they want. However, this might just be the straw that broke the camel’s back. I’ve never wanted to be a camel before, but here I am. I flip through their books out of curiosity, and let’s just say they aren’t my personal cup of tea (appropriate English metaphor).

I don’t end up buying anything, but consider five different books; then, I consider the space I have left in my Cotopaxi. We cut our losses and head back to the Tube.

Back at the AirBNB, we sit on the same cushion I sat on yesterday morning for about two hours and talked about our trip so far. We played a fun game called “Five Things I Miss About the United States, Five Things I Miss About Paris, Five Things I’ll Miss About London, Five Things I Loved About Paris, Five Things I Love About London, and Five Things I Don’t Miss About the United States”. I love a good short, snappy title. Then we end up crawling onto the roof, where a cooling breeze hits us. It seems like the first one in days.

Also, greatest apologies; I really didn’t take any pictures today for some reason.