Notting Hill and Harry

Thursday night we wandered down to the park  at the end of our block - called Parsons Green - and enjoyed the beautiful weather. I hear Thursday nights are the big party nights and every bar/pub was packed. People were out with their dogs and kids, and these four young boys were hanging out, looking for trouble with their matching jerseys.

We came home and watched the Netflix show on Britain and the Blitz. Seemed appropriate to view it here.

Yesterday morning we decided to spend time up in Notting Hill. The last time we were here we stayed in a gruesome flat there, but we loved the area. The row homes, the secret gardens, the small shop fronts. The big Portobello Market is on Saturday, and we didn't think that there would also be another market on Friday. But it was in full swing. Mostly vintage items but fun to look at it all.

We found some vintage linen we plan to use as a runner but mostly we just enjoyed the vibe in Notting Hill.

A quick lunch and we headed down to the theater district. We had some time to kill so we located the Seven Dials Market, an out of the way food market that was new to us but obviously not to the locals. It is an old converted warehouse with two levels of food stands. One unique vendor had a conveyer belt with small cheese samples in little domes that moved around a bar. You simply grab the one you want as it goes by. 

We peeked into Neal's Yard Courtyard which is just a tiny little area rimmed with shops, a bakery, a bar. There are several of these hidden gems around the city. You just have to know where to look or you'll walk right by them.

We had tickets for the afternoon and evening performances of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. This play is presented from 2:00-4:30. And then the final part goes from 7:00-9:30. It's a lot of time sitting inside on a beautiful day, but it was what we wanted to do. It was basically like binging a 4 episode series in one day. Greg is a huge HP fan. He's read all the books, seen all the movies multiple times, and has even listened to the audio books. I read the first book, thought it was incredibly creative, loved how it brought so many young people to reading, and that's about it. However, we both thoroughly enjoyed the play. The staging and the magic performed was like nothing I'd seen before. I admit that I didn't understand all the references to the characters and events that took place in the books, but I still loved it. Just seeing the Palace Theater was worth the price of admmission.

It's Saturday morning now and the planning committee is meeting again. Another picture perfect day here.