It's Sunday night. The city is going crazy since Spain won the World Cup. More Spaniards around here than Dutch I guess. The girls were hanging out the bedroom window yelling "GO SPAIN!" None of them have ever even been there, but what do they care. People were actually honking back.
Yesterday we had a peak out day. We slept in till about noon since none of us was willing to fight the jet lag. We woke up to a bright sunny hot afternoon with people walking along the street outside our flat. The neighborhood is really busy and alive and fun. Good people watching without even leaving the house. But leave the house we did once we got the sleep out of our eyes.
Saturday is market day on Portobello Road. Although I'm sure locals avoid it like the plague, we're not local so we dove right in. We had lunch at Gail's which was yummy and healthy and awesome, but absolutely the wrong place on the wrong day - it's on Portobello Road and you could barely squeeze an elbow on the counter to order, let alone find a table. We brought our salmon orzo salad and hummus outside and ate on a stoop. After a minute in the sun I didn't even want my coffee any more. Definitely an ice cream day.
The market is everything it's cracked up to be. It's so fun being a novice and not jaded about these touristy things. We wandered around looking at old maps and prints and silver spoons and military gear and the occasional cheaply made sundress. The shops all along where the market sets up are sort of like permanent market places so I plan to check those out when it's less crowded. I'm telling you it was a mob scene. Again, amazing people watching. By the way Alisa - you are right on about the sandal flats. Everyone was wearing very strappy very flat sandals with a lot going on at the ankle. I felt so out of it in my flip flops that I later dragged the crew into Office and bought these. Felt much better after.
We walked around for about an hour and worked up a pretty significant sweat. Right across from Gourmet Burger Kitchen on Westbourne Grove, where we ate the night before (and loved it) is DriDri, the absolute best gelato spot I have ever wandered into in my life.
Despite the heatwave, it was cool and calm in there. A very friendly Italian man in a bow tie - whose name I'm determined to learn tomorrow served Haley rasberry gelato that seriously tasted like frozen pureed rasberries - but somehow better. So good she went back for more today.
Next door to Dri Dri is the Electric Theater. Little did we know, the best movie theater in London is only minutes away from our house. I would have paid extra rent for this. The Electric makes going to the movies a civilized night out again. Only one movie plays at a time.They have a bar where you can get real drinks, nice wine, and also somewhere there was a kitchen so they were serving dinner. The audience sits in big leather chairs with arm rests big enough to rest not only your drink but you dinner too and maybe an ice cream from next door. We hung out for a while taking it all in and enjoying the AC before they kicked us out because they were about to screen something "extraordinarily graphic." We bought tix for the 9:15p show that night. (We saw Eclipse - disappointing, but worth it). Since we ordered our tix day of we were in the front row. But people who thought ahead and ordered three months ago sprawled out through the whole movie on leather couches in the back. I will be there again. Soon.
July 11
Today is Sunday and we actually had an invite. We went to a beautiful neighborhood on Regent's Park called Primrose Hill. We spent the day in the park with the most generous, fun and easy going friends and totally forgot about the fact we have to work tomorrow. We went through about 6 bottles of rose and then there was champagne when that ran out. The kids had races and cartwheel contests. We just had a lot of laughs. I took Haley on a walk around the "high" - the main street, to check out a cute store my friend told me about called Press. Loved it. We found some really great shampoo - needed, it's been days - in a little pharmacy down the street. Until later the rose hit me, and I left all 60 quid of it in the taxi. Shit, another day with dirty hair.
Our friends have a little long haired Dachshund who Steve and I have always loved named Gus. They used to tell us how he would get into bed with them every night like he was their child and every night they had to get him a glass of water too when they got one for themselves. Well there was Gus looking as cute as ever in their very cool apartment and even though he's seven he's fast and feisty as ever. I asked if we could take him when they go away. I hope it works out - could be out adopted dog while we miss our C - man!
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