Dear Europe: The House With the Blue Door

We found our favorite part of London...Notting Hill. Loved the movie and the place. Katie hasn't seen the movie, so it's on her list of flicks to see when we get back (unless Matt sets up a proxy so we can watch it on Netflix) Hint, hint ;) Aside from the movie, the place is really a treasure. I did some reading up on it's history before we went and was surprised to learn that it used to be the slums of London in the 60's, full of rubbish and rats. Now, it's considered a pretty ritzy part of town. I don't know about ritzy, but it was definitely hip and fun.

We enjoyed it so much that we made a two day trip out of it. The first afternoon was fairly short. We took Monday pretty easy after our big holiday in Switzerland, so we only managed to see a few shops and grab some food at Pret (our favorite place to eat here in London). However, the next day was considerably more productive.

On Tuesday, Katie and I got a bit lost before finally finding the heart of Notting Hill - on Portobello Market Road. But when we did, we were extremely happy to see vendors lined all the way down the street selling all sorts of things, from souvenirs and antiques to fresh produce and fish. It was very interesting. We felt at home in this part of London. Something about it was comforting. The hustle and bustle of the city seemed nonexistent, and we were content just walking along and enjoying the less crowded view.

After our delightful afternoon of window shopping and walking, we eventually had to head home and make some dinner for the guys. It's how we earn our keep around here :-) But we plan on going back to Notting Hill soon to hang out in our favorite part of the city.

P.S. I was very happy to finally see the cafe called "The Blue Door". If you're as much a fan as me of the movie Notting Hill, you'll know what I mean. But before we found it, I took lots of pictures of houses with blue front doors.