I know...

Yes I know… it’s been a while.

And I actually don’t really have an excuse. I just took some time to think about what this blog actually should be. I don’t want to be reviewing every single restaurant/store/pub in Notting Hill. I wanted to give an idea of what it actually is like living in this little area of London.

I wanted to start taking pictures of interesting spots in the area, but every time I find myself in front of 'the perfect picture'—I don’t have my camera (or my good one at least)

But I promise—I promise that tonight when I get home I will post the few pictures I did take over the last couple months.

Oh yes and a post about the Notting Hill Carnival is of course mandatory.

A little bit of Summer...

Alright! So finally the weather is amazing! And obviously, I am stuck here in an office trying not to think about all those students on summer holiday just chilling out in bikini’s in Hyde Park.
What to say. I have had quite an intense week/week end/previous week and have been trying to get to bed at 9. And successfully did so on Monday. One of my best childhood friends came to visit this week end. We did so much! The obvious tour-de-Portobello, branching out to drinks at the Cow. But then, I committed the worst crime towards Notting Hill: we went to the other hill… the Primrose one.

Last evening I went for a drink at the Prince Albert, in Notting Hill Gate. I used to really like that pub—I always considered it a great place for people watching during post-work drinks time. Hmmm this time it wasn’t so. Don’t know if it’s because I am completely infatuated with Mr. M. now and am really not looking around anymore, or if it’s just that the place and people has actually changed.

I don’t know what’s going on at Notting Hill Gate anymore. First, the Gate turning into a Foxtons, the huge amount of cheap find-them-everywhere clothes stores. The place is losing all it’s charm!

I am being quite mean towards the Prince Albert. It’s still quite a nice place. Especially for smokers who want to enjoy a glass of wine and a cigarette at the same time, sitting down in a garden-like area. And for those of you who do want to pop down and take a peak for themselves… here is the link to the pubs' website.

Won’t be staying in London this week end! Heading south for two days… and hopefully back having topped off my tan!

Updates and apologies :-)

Yes it’s true... I haven’t written anything in a while. I have been in Southern Europe working on my tan! And of course with my luck, I missed one of the best weeks of sunny beautiful weather in London. And to top that, the day I arrived at Victoria Station from the Gatwick express, I was welcomed with the strongest, heaviest amount of rain I have seen in quite some time.

So what did I do on my holiday? Let’s see… lot’s of food, sun, dancing, chill outs at sunsets—thumbs up to whoever guesses where I was!

Oh and then.. I met M. one night out. For the last couple days, we have been speaking so much! Skype, phone, texts- you name it. He doesn’t live in London though. So I don’t know how that will work.

Anytime, time for me to re-immerse myself in my favourite neighbourhood. Spring pictures to follow. I promise.

One thing I wanted to mention is the week end of openings of all private gardens around London. I might go see the Elgin Crescent gardens- I have always been jealous of those folks that have access to it!
http://www.opensquares.org/

updates....

Where to begin.
A lot has been going on—Notting Hill has been buzzing. I have wanted to take pictures of my favourite spots in the neighbourhood, but I keep on forgetting my camera at home!

A couple things that have kept me busy….

-Drinks and dinner at the Electric—the Prince of Sweden was there! He looks just like an actor (whose name I don’t remember) If I do remember, I will let you know.
-Lunch at The Cow—interesting… but the pizza is still better at Rosso Pomodoro
-Discovery of a couple new and interesting vintage clothing shops (will write this in more detail)

Just a quick update, will delve into more detail soon!

Sundays @ The Westbourne

Last night was officially the first day of the season. Well, it was in Notting Hill at least: the amount of people at the Westbourne terrace was ridiculous. I think every non-English person in London was there. (although we probably lost some people to the Chelsea Anglesea Arms)
I always wonder how the Westbourne came to be: Did one Italian, years ago, decide to spread the word and tell every other Italian that the Westbourne was THE place to go on a Sunday?

This place is a perfect example of the power of word of mouth marketing.

Seems to me everyone that goes to the Westbourne falls is a couple criteria:

1. You’re Italian. And if you are not Italian, you are French, Spanish, German or Swedish. But you certainly are not English
2. English is your second language and you have an accent
3. You complain about being in London, but keep coming back
4. You are certain you will bump into someone you know at some point in the evening
5. You sometimes bump into people that know you, and you pretend you remember where/when you met them
6. You leave having met an additional ten people whose number you save in your phone, but will never call

And indeed the same thing happened to me yesterday. I bumped into E. which was quite interesting, as I hadn’t seen him in ages.
Every time I go I tell myself it will be the last time. But I keep on going back.

Sunny Notting Hill

Today is a beautiful day. The flowers in my garden are blossoming, the birds are chirping... it's a perfect day to go to all my favourite things in Notting Hill. Alas, I will have to wait until the end of the afternoon-- I have to work today :-( Just my luck. The first day of sunshine after a series of rainy ones.

Oh well, I'll try to make the most of it once I get back.

Tube or Bus?

Seems to me I spend almost no time in Notting Hill during the week.

Well, that's because it's true: I actually dont spend much time in Notting Hill during the week. This is because I work in "even-more-west" London. The good thing about where I work is that I don't need to take the tube anymore. I take a bus! (there is no good way to get to work by tube) The bad things however are:

• Every single bus going down Ladbroke Grove HAS to stop at Sainsburys. It's like Sainsbury made some kind of deal with TFL and forces all buses to stop there, even though its completely out of their way. They could easily replace the stop in front of the supermarket with other stops "close" to the supermarket, which wouldn't force the buses to make that silly deviation.
  
• 1.2 miles take me about 30 min on the bus, when on the tube it would take me 3 minutes.
• The buses don't come as often. Especially when I am late in the morning, or I need to get home after a long day.
  

Ok fine. I miss the tube.