Day Four- Let's Go Shopping!!!!

Hey all,

One thing about vacations is bringing home souveniers.  And I'm VERY good at it!  LOL  In fact, we brought extra suitcases just to have something to pack it in.  Today was our shopping day.  We'd done so well the day before that we had a bit of extra time so we decided to have some extra fun.
After uploading some pics to our photobox, we went to a newer attraction, The London Eye.  This is sort of a huge ferris wheel, but instead of cars, it has large glass enclosed gondolas that can hold close to twenty people.  It is VERY expensive, but it is a great way to see the whole city.  The ride lasts about twenty minutes and moves very slowly so you can see the city quite well.

I'm not sure if I'd recommend this experience to everyone.  It was fun and since we had the money, we did it, but it is definately NOT for those on a budget.  There are other ways to see the city, but I have to admit, seeing London from a bird's eye view was extraordinary.  If you are interested in doing this, save up the money...and enjoy.

Afterwards, we boarded a bus and headed out to somewhere I was really looking forward to...Portebello Row.  Remember the movie Bednobs and Broomsticks?  With Angela Landsbury?  This song sung as she is shopping is one of my faves...

Portobello road, Portobello road
Street where the riches of ages are stowed.
Anything and everything a chap can unload
Is sold off the barrow in Portobello road.
You’ll find what you want in the Portobello road.

You can see the actual performance at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqY1lHJYIgY


Anyway, we travelled through the rain in a red, double-decker bus to get there.  Now THAT was an experience.  They drive so damn fast and it was slick and...  Well, let's just leave it at that...shall we?   It was closing as we arrived, but I was able to find a couple of cool little antique-type souvenirs to remember it by.

Then we had the bestest coolest part of our day...  I got to meet one of my biggest fans and good friend Emma!!!  We met her at yet another shopping mecca of London, Camden Market.  This place is huge and filled with trendy boutiques, craft tables, food carts and antique dealers.  A great place to spend LOTS of money and you can literally get lost there.

We met Emma at a little cafe and had a cuppa with her.  We talked and laughed and had a wonderful time.  Then we all walked around and looked at the shops together.  It was so much fun, we didn't want it to end.  I wished I had another day just to wander around and get to know her better.  If I get to go back to London, I'm going to plan to spend a whole day with Emma!  We'll have a blast!!!!!

We ended our day with a popular nighttime adventure.  A Jack the Ripper's tour led by Donald Rumbelow, who is, as the Jack the Ripper A to Z puts it, "internationally recognised as the leading authority on Jack the Ripper."  He was great.  Really interesting and very informative.  We walked all around the area where the killings took place and it was like being inside the story of Jack.  I got so many ideas for a book, I was on overload by the time we finished.  It was spooky and actually parts made me feel a bit ill.  Not sure if it was my empathic gifting that was picking stuff up or something seld, but I was really glad when the night was over.  We had a drink in a pub where it is reported that some of the prostitues worked and then once it was over, we went and had dinner at a place called Giraffe's...a around the world type food place.

Since we were heading out of town the next day, we grabbed desert and headed back to the hotel to pack.  Our time in London had come to an end, but it had been a wonderful adventure packed three days.  We visited kings and queens, churches and markets and loved every minute of it.  My vote?  London is a great place and totally worth a visit!!!

Next stop on our itinerary???  FRANCE  Can anyone say...ooo la la???  See ya next week!

 CJ England

 

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