We Walked.....And Walked......And Walked

We woke up bright and early on day two and after waiting for the repairman to finish (if you don't know what repairman read this) we headed out for the day.   We walked up to Victoria Station and caught a bus that took us into Notting Hill where Mum grew up.   We got off at "her" stop and walked around the corner to find her old house.  

Street Sign from Mum's Street 

Mum Lived on the main floor (the two big windows in front).  Her friends Moni, Roger and Gerard Boynton lived in the top flat (the top windows)

After walking around the block and trying to get a peak into the communal back garden we headed off toward Portobello Road and the market there.   There are two markets, a daily fruit and veg farmer's market kind of thing and a Saturday antiques market.  It was a zoo and it turned out we were walking against the crowd so we had to fight the hoards of people coming down the hill from Notting Hill Gate tube station.  

This picture doesn't do the crowds justice but I had to wait until it was kinda clear before I could take a photo.

Literally, there is trash everywhere.  It's dumped on the street, in bags on the curbs or like here it overflows out of garbage bins.

After walking through Portobello Road we met up with a lovely friend of my Mum's named Lisl.  She was a delight and we spent a few hours chatting and having tea.  There was a beautiful old church across from her flat (there are beautiful churches everywhere in this city).

St. Peters Church 

St. Peter himself perched at the top of the chapel

From here we walked to Hyde Park and past this road, I don't remember what it's called, but it's where all the Royals live.  You aren't allowed to take pictures down this street, but I took a few from the top of the road.

Looking up the road past security.  Just off camera on the right was the sign that said "No Photography" 

Looking at the entrance gate and the road beyond

Then we headed into Hyde Park at the Kensington Garden end and walked along the Broad Walk toward what is called the Round Pond.  

The Broad Walk

Once we reached the round pond we cut across the grass toward an area my Mum called the Second Lawn where she and her mother used to meet the other mothers and children.  From there we walked along a path my Mum called the Geegee Walk (that's not it's real name, that is just what they used to call it). We followed the Geegee Walk until it came to a statue and then we headed off in another direction.

Looking up the Geegee Walk 

The Geegee 

(apparently geegee is baby talk for horse in my Mum's world)

From here we walked toward the Royal Albert Memorial, Past the Flower Walk and Rotten Row (where they ride the horses).   

Royal Albert Memorial with Royal Albert Hall in the background 

Royal Albert Memorial

By the time we got through all of this it was about 7:30pm and we were both pretty tired and hungry.  We found a lovely pasta place in Kensington where we had a quick (and very yummy) dinner before walking home to our flat.   It was a great first day, but it left us both a bit sore and tired.

Love From London

Michelle