Bits and Bobs
“I had neither kith nor kin in England, and was therefore as free as air—or as free as an income of eleven shillings and sixpence a day will permit a man to be. Under such circumstances I naturally gravitated to London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained.”
Tour Our London Flat
Below is a map with the location pinned for our Mayfair flat at 37 Albemarle Street. (The map is “interactive,” so you can zoom and pan.)
Here is the video tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIPD12jsdZY
We’re on the second floor (they call it the first floor in the UK), with the white flag right outside our windows. The flag drove Pam crazy when she tried to sleep and it made noise in the wind.
We used the grey door on the right to enter the stairwell.
We are now (Jan 16) at the Hilton London Paddington, waiting for Will to arrive tomorrow morning.
The Great Detective
At the Baker Street Underground station on our way to visit the “consulting detective.”
The Baker Street Underground station has a wonderful Victoria vibe with just a hint of the Ministry of Magic mixed in for good measure.
A statue of the Great Detective just outside the Baker Street Underground station.
One of the world’s most famous addresses—221B Baker Street. According to the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, super sleuth Sherlock Holmes made this his residence from 1881 to 1904.
Fun fact: the numbers did not go higher than 85 in the much shorter Baker Street that existed at the time of the Holmes stories. The first occupants moved into 219-229 Baker Street in 1932 and immediately found they had to employ a secretary full-time to answer letters addressed to Holmes at 221B.
The Great Album Cover
From Baker Street to Abbey Road
There are people being filmed crossing and re-crossing this crosswalk literally all day, every day!
In the steps of the Fab Four: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt579i-P5P0
Abbey Road Studios, the shorter white building with the chimneys.
Abbey Road Studios
Did you know the UK has five formally-recognized Pedestrian crossings—Zebra, Pelican, Puffin, Toucan, & Pegasus. No joke; they are actually listed in their Highway Code by those silly names. (Zebra makes sense, but the others?!) They call their London Underground card the Oyster card, so they’re apparently inclined toward bizarre animal names for everything.
One last view down Abbey Road with the famous crosswalk and Abbey Road Studios on the left.
From Baker Street to Abbey Road to Notting Hill
We had lunch in the middle of London's iconic Portobello Road at the Clean Kitchen Club. The food was amazing and very reasonably priced. I had avocado toast and Amanda had a katsu bowl.
As with Unity Diner last night though, it was the desserts that stole the show. Amanda had a light and flaky pain au chocolat and I had an almond croissant with custard—both were absolutely delicious and we were utterly shocked both were vegan.
Then it was on to the obligatory Notting Hill sites. I wonder what the locals think? If you can’t make it out, they read: “Tourists suck!” | “Shit film!” | “Shit door!”
These days the locals seem far less impressed with the door then these reporters from the film.
You could be easily forgiven for mistaking this as the bookshop from the 1999 Notting Hill film (yes, its been that long). If the paint and name wasn’t suggestive enough, there is what appears to be an official London’s Blue Plaque displayed.
The plaque reads, “The Notting Hill Bookshop, The Travel Book Co featured in the film NOTTING HILL…” If you stop reading there, assumption has gotten the best of you.
However, the sign continues: “was inspired by a bookshop established on this site in 1981. The original interior and shopfront remain today.”
Apparent manipulation aside, this may be the more interesting of the two shops to visit because director Richard Curtis was inspired to write the film after frequently visiting a bookshop close to his home. If this is that shop (as the sign suggests), then it really is the more interesting place to visit—the true source of inspiration always trounces a movie prop.
Plus this shop remains a quaint little bookstore, while the one actually used in the film is now a lousy souvenir shop filled with junk. In fact, the shop’s interior was recreated at Pinewood Studios for the movie after the owner refused to allow filming inside.
Plus this bookshop carries more than just travel books. While William (High Grant) had to tell his customer he did not carry John Grisham and Winnie the Pooh, you can find those in this bookshop. 😂
The actual building used as the exterior of the bookshop in the film.
Like I said, filled with junk (my beautiful wife excluded, of course!).
A happy accident—we walked past a store Amanda has always wanted to visit—LoveShackFancy.
Très chic
The interior was even more elegant than the exterior.
OMG—these shoes are so darling! 🥰
