London Exploring

I haven't written anything in the past week as I've been too busy exploring this amazing city!

I went to the National Portrait Gallery on Thursday evening (it's the only thing open late that evening).  It was full of people and there was a DJ to liven things up.  Not quite what you would expect for a gallery full of pictures of old dead people.

Friday evening was even better as I checked out the Tate Modern.  This museum is faces St. Paul's right on the Thames.  I loved the modern art and the empty turbine hall (the building was formerly a power station).

Saturday was a day full of adventures.  I started with the Portobello Market, which is basically a long street festival/street sale.  There are shops lining the road and then stalls filling the road, add in hoards of tourists and bargain hunters to fill in the gaps and you have a street chocked full.  The shops and stalls were selling a huge variety of items.  One section as dedicated to mostly antiques, from watches, old signs, gas masks, leather footballs, old maps, antique lace to cameras.

Antiques.

Antique télescopes.

Then the market shifted to fresh produce and street food.  I tried a fried fish sandwich.  Delicious.

 Next the market moved on to used clothing, London souvenirs and electronics. After this adventure, I needed somewhere calm to unwind. So I left Notting Hill...

Early Bathing Costumes.

Beautiful glass chandelier. 

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I went over to the V and A museum (Victoria and Albert) to check out their collection.  This museum is rather eclectic, I check out fashion and wrought iron displays, planning to come back to see their Middle Eastern collection and other arts.  

That was enough for one day!  So I went in search of a nice quite coffee shop where I could read.  I walked around for a bit until I finally found one that wasn't packed full of tourists.  I had just settled in when they announced that they were closing in 10 minutes.  So I went home for a quiet evening.