We covered a lot of ground our first few days in London. And a lot of underground. I’ve been to London several times and have always struggled to get my bearings and a true sense of the city. This time I realized it’s because of all the tunneling around and then popping up like gophers– messes with my internal compass.
Our first morning we headed underground and popped up in Notting Hill. It was a drizzly Friday morning which meant the Portobello Market unfortunately had less shops, and fortunately less shoppers. We met up with Geoff, Angela, Devon and Bryan. Everyone seemed to enjoy poking around as we discovered silver toast racks, vintage leather punching bags, and the beautiful Scottish goods of the Highland Store. Geoff and Angela treated me to the sharpest coat I can’t wait to wear while polishing my brass opera hooks… but we’ll get to that.
We encountered the Gail’s Bakery of England, which doesn’t hold a candle to the Gayle’s Bakery of Capitola. Jacob counted at least twelve bakeries just along Portobello Road. Our favorite places always seem to support more bakeries than logic would suggest. We admired a beautiful pub called The Castle on our way down the road, and found it was perfectly situated for lunchtime on our way back. The boys had big plates of deliciously crispy fish and chips. And our server adeptly steered them away from the typical fountain drinks available the world over and toward some interesting new choices.
And while we certainly enjoyed exploring the Tower of London, the views from the top of the London Eye, and our walk out to Kew’s garden and back, my favorite highlight of London was the Notting Hill doorknob shop.
It was one of the first places we stumbled upon and allowed me to proclaim my first trip rule: See it, Say it, Sorted. OK, well I may have borrowed that from the railway security posters but it perfectly captures my intent. You see something, speak up, and let’s do it– we all get a say in what sparks our interest.
So the doorknob store… It’s called Chloe Alberry and they call those huge doorknobs in the center of all English entry doors “Front Door Furniture.” They had knobs and latches, knockers and catches. While of course I was tempted to buy an entire house of doorknobs and worry about retrofitting American doors to English standards later, I opted for two brass “opera hooks.” They also had this finish called copper brass, which is an interesting observation meant only for design enthusiasts and my future self.
The first round of voting has commenced and the results are in. The boys say their favorite London highlights were the London Eye and afternoon high tea at the Wolseley. And my vote is for Harrods’ Eton Mess and British doorknobs.
See it. Say it. Sorted.
