Portobello Road, London
Saturday in London was quite busy, we started the day at Portobello Road. On that long road was a mixture of flea and antique markets with the passers-by providing a colorful backdrop. The taxi dropped us at the top of Portobello Road, at the intersection of Westbourne Grove and Portobello Road to be precise.
At the corner was a store with dozens and dozens of old sewing machines in windows on both streets, Allsaints Spitalfields was on about 5-6 wide storefronts on Westbourne Grove and a short window display was on Portobello Road. The first photograph shows the short window display on Portobello Road.
Lunch at Finch’s Dining Room
We started walking down looking at the stands on the right and the left and taking photographs of things we considered interesting, including people of course. Our wandering down the street took us to the intersection of Portobello Road and Elgin Crescent. Finch’s Dining Room was full, inside and out. Ergun was exploring the inside and suddenly the people at one table outside left, leaving it for us. Lucky break. We sat down for lunch and enjoyed the steady stream of people, young and old go by.
A man walking his dog slowed down enough for me to offer a piece of food for the dog, a kind of collie with odd eyes. The well-behaved dog took that and a few others with minimum fuss and lingered for more. Kids enjoyed the dog as much as we did, petting and hugging him as he sat and looked pretty.
The Photographers’ Gallery
After lunch, another taxi took us to The Photographers’ Gallery, a center that features exhibits, a cafeteria, and a rich bookstore in the basement. We enjoyed the exhibits walking from the top story down and had a cup of coffee in the cafeteria. The bookstore was enjoyable to visit but I did not get anything other than the names of books that might be of interest when I returned home.
Liberty of London
Around the corner was Regent Street and we started walking towards Liberty of London. With its colorful window display, Liberty almost demanded attention. Ergun suggested going in and perhaps having tea. We walked in and wandered around then waited for our turn for an afternoon snack. The seating was sparse so Binnaz and Ergun sat two tables down from us. We had a cheese board I think and some soft drinks. It was quite enjoyable and despite its fame, Liberty was not pretentious at all.
Here is an album from our outing on September 21, 2013.
A. Cemal Ekin
Yes Barbara, it was a very enjoyable trip and yes, there will be more posts with photographs. By way of these posts we are sharing our time in London with our friends and family.
Barbara & Dennis Ryan
Cemal and Jan,
The photos were very interesting – all the local sights not seen in travel brochures. The gallery looked like a great place to roam – hope the exhibit was good. This has been a wonderful insight to your trip. Looking forward to more photos.
Barbara