Notting Hill, Museum of Brands, & The Crown Jewels at the Garrick Theatre

I arrived into London on the train at about noon and it took me a little over an hour between Tube stations and walking to get near my AirBnB in the neighborhood of London called Kensington. I had some time to kill before I could check in and I was starving and it was Sunday, so it was time to get Sunday Roast. I went into a pub called The Windsor Castle for this and it was quite tasty.

I stayed here for a while reading, waiting until exactly 3:00 pm to walk a few minutes to my AirBnB.

10 Vicarage Gate, London -- my AirBnB

It was so nice to have a window and a little bit of a view!

 

I was on the 4th floor of the building and it was 82 steps to get up to my room. I was huffing and puffing each time. This AirBnB used an app to open doors. It felt so fancy without keys!

That evening I believe I walked around my neighborhood a bit, but I didn't have any plan. I'm pretty sure I spent most of the night in my room. Sometimes you just want to lay around, ya know?

The next day I did have a plan and the first part of that plan was to roam around Notting Hill, an area I had never been. Notting Hill is an affluent area that is known for its beautiful, sometimes colorful, terrace houses. It's also known for the film of the same name. (I've seen that movie, but I never really got into it. I know a lot of people love it.)

I grabbed a coffee at a shop nearby called Lift and embarked on my walking route throughout Notting Hill.

The neighborhoods were so quiet. I'm not sure if it's just the way this area is or if that's how things are at 9:00 am on a Monday. It was nice being away from touristy areas.

I had timed things nicely to arrive at the Museum of Brands right when they opened at 10:00. Honestly, this museum wasn't of too much interest to me beforehand and I really only visited because it happened to be in the area. But I'm so glad I went. It was absolutely fascinating!

These photos look so chaotic and really all of the displays looked like this. It was a feast for the eyes. I really enjoyed the advertisements from the Victorian era. It was so interesting to see how marketing started and has changed throughout the years. I also like thinking about how real people used the actual products on display and how these products were revolutionary to them at the time.

I continued my route through Notting Hill, which took me through Portobello Road Market. This market is kind of famous, but it's not really my cup of tea. Lots of tented vendors on the street which, to me, mostly seemed like resale of things purchased from China or just vintage goods that I'm not interested in. There are a lot of shops that seemed interesting, though, and I went into a few. I'm just not really in a shopping mood when I'm in England typically!

From here I got some food at Marks & Spencer, which is mostly a supermarket but they also have clothing and home goods. The food is quality! I went back to my room to eat and sit down.

Very famous flower-covered pub called Churchill Arms

Later on I headed back out on the Tube to Leicester Square. I walked around this area a little and found myself in a library. The streets were just so busy and I had time to kill and no real interest in the stores nearby, so I just sat reading for an hour or so. My nervous system thanked me.

The library was right around the corner from the Garrick Theatre, which is where I was going to see a production called The Crown Jewels. I really enjoyed it! It was very funny. I've never seen a bad play or musical in London.

The sun sets so late in the summer in the UK. This was at about 10:00 pm. Beautiful view from my AirBnB.