An Outing To Exmouth Con Mi Amigo Felipe

I can't say this is the most exciting of posts, but Exmouth Market was another treasure I have found in the heart of this big city.

The unfortunate thing is, I can't disclose why I needed to come here, but I can share the fun market Felipe and I stumbled upon while on our lunch break.  The good news was, we were hungry.  Exmouth provided.

The food selection was abundant and the locals were out standing in 5-10 minute queues to get their hands on some savory German BBQ or some freshly cooked Chorizo.  Felipe and I opted for the Spanish, marinated pork served on a flatbread with Spanish lentils, bravas potatoes salad and mojo.  All that for 5 quid.  Don't believe me??

Proof!

And, you know I didn't fake this beautiful advertisement for marinated pork because I have no idea how to draw the pounds symbol.  Only recently have I been able to access it (easily) on my international keyboard.

£££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££

OK, I'm done with that.

I didn't have my camera with me so you'll have to live with the pictures from my phone of my lunch and me.  Photo cred all goes to Felipe.

Here's a wonderful shot of the happy Spanish couple.  After we got our food and walked away, my trilingual colleague laughed as he told me they were complaining about the day and everything about it.  Lovely.

 I think this picture explains it all.  Marinated pork and potatoes.

 Lunch is served!

Beyond the plethora (yes, plethora) of abundant choice meats and delicious treats, Exmouth is enchanting because it doesn't feel like big central London.  The buildings are shorter.  The pubs are ... Pub-ier?  The street is narrow and the shops are unique.  Plus, it felt like locals only.  There are a ton of offices around the area where worker bees are sitting on a bench enjoying their lunch.  It didn't have the hustle and bustle of Portobello Road, nor any of the gimmicks.

Here are a few shots of the scene.

Notting Hill / Portobello Road

We're becoming less mobile these days with the approach of Allie's due date being less than 2 weeks away.  We did, however, venture out to Portobello Road and try our hand at the market.

Portobello Road wasn't necessarily top on my list of things to see, but it does offer some good pictures and a few takeaway items like fresh fruits and vegetables.

Part of the encouragement for us going was the good ol' 90's flick Notting Hill.  For your viewing pleasure, I've included a reminder of the movie poster...

I can't say I was personally a major fan of the movie, but knowing there was a blue door and a book shop just minutes away from my home... was slightly intriguing.

So, what's the fuss with Notting Hill and Portobello Road?  Well, there's this...


Oldie but a Goodie

I've decided I can approach Portobello Road as two different types of people.


There's the tourist in me that wants to see and experience as much of London as possible in the short time that we have.  If this includes walking down a street with a bunch of random doo-dads that I don't need with way too many people, then I'm all in.  If you want a miniature phone booth, a tea set, a hot dog and a pound of cherries all in the same stop, Portobello Road is PERFECT!

But, there's the [trying to be] local in me that wants nothing to do with crowded places and if I want a pound of cherries I'll order it online and have it delivered to my door for 99p.

Either way, we went and experienced all that Portobello Road had to offer.  After all, the first shop was originated by somebody with the last name of Garth.  That's gotta count for something.

Here's a few shots of the main road.  Will you find a picture of the blue door or the travel shop? Nope. All that and we we didn't get to experience what Hugh experienced.  Next time Hugh... next time.

Our friend Halie came to visit for a couple of weeks.

And of course, where there are Crepes, Allie will be.  Happy pregnant lady.

There's A Baby In There

This past weekend was absolutely beautiful.  We've been very blessed to have warm, sunny days even though we all know what stereotypical London is like.  We've definitely seen the rain and fog, but this past weekend couldn't have been any more perfect to showcase Allie and our growing baby.

On Saturday, we went to a little community called Little Venice.  There's a series of waterways that are worked right into the city.  One of the canals even leads to the London Zoo which is fun.  You can hop on a water taxi from many parts of the river and buy a ticket once you get on.  Very easy and I'm sure Allie and I will do that sometime soon.  This time, however, was spent our time finding fun places near the water's edge to take the classic belly pictures.

I know this is random, but this is how we got there.

After we left Little Venice we did some exploring near High Street Kensington.  We walked away with some gelato but we found the Whole Foods!  Very exciting.  Not sure we need it for anything as we've found some good grocery stores near us, but Whole Foods is fun nonetheless.

Here are a few of my favorites from Little Venice.

On Sunday, we wanted to take advantage of how beautiful our own front yard is.  Plus, it will give you a great idea of what it looks like at our home.  The pond is literally right outside our front door and the other pictures are at the park right next to the pond.

Here are some favorites from Sunday.