Wednesday: magical Marie moments

Wednesday was another day full of magical moments!

First, we headed up to Notting Hill to explore the Portobello Road market.  En route, we stopped so Madre could have a quick look at a comic book store…and were stopped by a TV crew from Harry Hill’s TV Burp on ITV–it’s basically the British version of The Soup, one of our favorite shows back home!  As part of a montage making fun of an incident on last week’s The X Factor (Simon Cowell’s UK American Idol), we were prompted with the question “What is your favorite movie?” to which were to reply in a completely genuine, obvious manner “GUMMO!”  We obeyed…and made it into the montage that played at the beginning of the new 14-Nov 7:30pm episode!!!!!  Surreal…

Anyway, we then made it to Portobello Road and browsed all of the cute shoppes and stalls, pausing briefly for breakfast at Kitchen and Pantry.  After satisfying our Notting Hill itch, we headed northwest via bus to Abbey Road and were “those people” taking pictures in the zebra crossing.  I had been waiting this entire semester to have someone to go with me to the famous spot of my favorite band and was so happy that I got to do it with Madre.  It was totally worth the wait!

We headed south for an afternoon of Christmas retail magic at Harrods.  After productively spending money on Christmas gifts for many of my readers (;)) we indulged in Afternoon Tea at The Georgian Restaurant.  I cannot stress how content I was having my favorite meal in a gorgeous restaurant festively decorated for Christmas in pink!  (I KNOW! Believe me, I was freaking out.)

We continued the department store up Brompton Road to Harvey Nichols, Harrods’ edgier but equally expensive counterpart frequently referenced in the sitcom Absolutely Fabulous.  We headed back to the LVH for an early night on the eve of our most epic, magical adventure yet…

Published in: on November 16, 2009 at 9:46 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Sunday: home across the pond

I can’t even begin to express how amazing it was to have Madre here and on how many levels.  Above all, though, it was great to have a bit of home in London with me — it was still an adventure, but I got to have my favorite companion by my side.

In typical Sunday style, we headed to mass at Our Lady of Victories, but the London flare was definitely there: 11:30am Latin mass with a gorgeous choir (personal highlight: being able to kiss Madre during the sign of peace! It was great to not be a loner for once!)!  We then headed up Kensington High Street to Kensington Church Street, where we stopped for brunch at the Kensington Wine Rooms (another establishment I frequently pass and always dreamed of going to!).  Sufficiently fortified, we headed up to Notting Hill Gate and back onto The Big Bus for another sightseeing route through London!  We hopped off at Westminster Bridge to spend some quality Kodak time with the London Eye and Big Ben, Madre’s new crush.  Once we were chilled to the bone, we hopped on the Tube at Westminster station and got off at South Kensington.  Yet another dining dream of mine came true when we stopped for a light dinner at Carluccio’s before heading home to the LVH for another sound snuggly sleepover.

More details in the picture captions and descriptions below!

Published in: on November 16, 2009 at 2:29 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Sublime Sunday

*reading this post requires a map! go utilize Google Maps: Notting Hill, London, UK*

My first Sunday in London was exactly what I wanted it to be!  I headed off on my first solo-adventure without any time constraints, bag stocked with my A to Z map, Let’s Go London guide, and Not For Tourists guide, with one goal: to follow any whim that should come over me!

First stop was 11:30 a.m. mass at Our Lady of Victories on Kensington High Street.  It was wonderful and the church was beautiful; it had a peaceful alcove that set the church back from the bustle of High St.  After the service, I noticed a statue of St. Therese and decided to donate and light a candle in front of her.  She is my patron saint as well as my grandmother’s (we share the name Marie Therese), and it just seemed too good to be true that she would be a permanent fixture in my local church.  It was very comforting, just like the mass, and served as the perfect way to start off my day!

Next, I decided to head north on Kensington Church Street to Notting Hill Gate to explore the area.  I first walked along the famous Portobello Road to the market named after it, explored the side streets like Elgin Crescent, then headed across Westbourne Grove and through the residential Pembrige Villas and Pembridge Road.  I absolutely loved how eclectic the area was; the alternative and thrifty shops along Portobello Rd. neighbored a beautiful area of boutiques and more upscale shops that definitely had a heavy Italian influence.  All in all, I definitely feel as though I successfully explored the area, though I’m sure there’s much more to it!  There were so many cute places that I can’t wait to return to.  I tried to document my journey as best as I could via pictures, stopping to snap anything that caught my eye or any time I found myself saying “wow” in my head.  Flying solo really came in handy in this respect, since I got to stop whenever I wanted without feeling like holding others back and got to wander without the burden of inconveniencing others by getting a little off course.

I eventually headed back down to Notting Hill Gate, where I met up with Mike who headed up to the area through Kensington Gardens.  We headed home together and decided to explore the park more in doing so, including crossing over The Serpentine into Hyde Park.  It was extremely serene and refreshing, and the scapes were unreal!

As if the day wasn’t sweet enough, my Vassar flatmates and I decided to whip up a (very large) batch of homemade cookies for the flat.  In addition to using UK measurements (big moment) they featured delicious chunks of Cadbury chocolate and the UK equivalent of a Heath Bar.  Besides being delicious, it was great to have heat and sweet aromas from the kitchen, and it was really nice bonding with our other flatmates.  Nothing brings people together like the smell of fresh baked cookies!  Ironically enough, they are from Marist; Poughkeepsie relocated?  A bit, but it’s nice to have a little piece of home at our temporary home.

As you can hopefully see, it was probably my favorite day thus far.

Published in: on September 6, 2009 at 11:55 pm  Leave a Comment  
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