Freezing, but happy to have my red velvet whoopie pie!
One of the reasons we decided to stay in Notting Hill is because we love the movie Notting Hill. Do you remember the scene in the movie, that in order to show how much time has passed by, you see Hugh Grant walking through a market? Well that market is the Portobello Market and we visited it during Day Four, enjoying a big brunch and sweets.
The Portobello Market offers a lot: antiques, clothes, trinkets, produce, and street food, in addition to all of the shops and cafes locatedo on Portobello Road. So first we did a long walk down the road, deciding on grilled cheeses and duck confit sandwiches for breakfast from the many street food stands. After eating our breakfast we needed coffee and headed to Coffee Plant, an organic fairtrade coffee shop in Notting Hill, for a pick me up. After coffee I couldn’t leave Portobello Road without stopping by the original Hummingbird Bakery! Definitely worth the long wait in line for my red velvet whoopie pie!
Walking through Notting Hill to get to the Portobello Market
Portobello Market
Koen ordering his grilled cheese
Grilled cheese with caramelized onions and bacon on the grill
Duck Confit Sandwich for me!
Huge, delicious duck confit sandwich
A little bit of Belgium in London
Portobello Market
Portobello Market
Quick stop for coffee
Inside Coffee Plant
The Hummingbird Bakery
Delicious red velvet whoopie pies
Day Four was really a market day for us. After leaving the Portobello Market we headed to Camden Lock for the Camden Market, where Amy Winehouse used to work selling clothes. Normally I find most markets interchangable, but the Camden Market was really special. There is a such a young, international, artistic vibe. Although super crowded, it was a lot of fun to visit! Even though we ate at the Portobello Market, we couldn’t leave Camden Town without getting food from one of the stalls. In the end we decided on a fresh juice and jerk chicken with plantains – yum! Definitely plan on coming hungry if you plan to visit! In addition to every sort of food imaginable, there are also a lot of cool stalls with art, music, clothes and jewelry throughout.
Welcome to Camden
Camden Town
Camden
First a fresh juice
Sweets
Meats
Food from every country, even The Netherlands!
We decided on Mama’s Jerk Station
So many options!
We decided on jerk chicken and plantains
Camden Lock
Camden mural
Leaving Camden – so busy!
Now we were really full and cold (it was the coldest day of our trip!), so we headed further to the center to the Tate Modern. We had a few hours to spend visiting the modern art gallery looking at the works of Picasso, Dali, Malevich, and Modrian amongst others.
Tate Modern
“Two Women Holding Flowers” Fernand Léger, 1954
“Composition in Red Blue and Yellow” Piet Mondrian, 1930
“Suprematist Painting” Kazimir Malevich, 1916
“Dynamic Suprematism” Kazimir Malevich, 1915 or 1916
“Weeping Woman” Pablo Picasso, 1937
So funny to listen to these three girls discuss this painting thanks to their father’s prompting! “Vicissitudes” Jean Dufuffet, 1977
“Untitled” Laura Owens, 2012
“Big Blue” George Condo, 1996
“Guerrilla Girls Talk Back” 1985 – 1990
Guerrilla Girls
“Still Life with a Beer Mug” Fernand Léger, 1921-2
“Bust of a Woman” Pablo Picasso, 1944
“Endless Rhythm” Robert Delaunay, 1934
“Seekers of Lice I, from the series Make-up Drawings” Bela Kolarova, 1976
“Fountain” Marcel Duchamp, 1917
After the Tate Modern, we went for a walk across the London Bridge to take the bus back to Chelsea for dinner at The Painted Heron. Delicious! I mean, can you really visit London without eating at least one Indian meal?
Millennium Bridge, crossing the Thames from the Tate Modern to St. Paul’s Cathedral
London Bridge
Tower Bridge
We also loved The Book of Mormon!
The Painted Heron in Chelsea
My Cobra beer
Koen’s Meantime London Pale Ale
Vegetarian Grazing Platter: onion and spinach bhajis, paneer tikka, baby aubergine, half-moon dumplings, ‘bhel’ salad of okra, sweet potato, baby corn crisp and puffed rice
My chicken tikka, almond, and tomato curry with clotted cream
Koen’s very spicy hot Indian chicken curry, roasted spice mis, and plantain chips
Sides: 1) paneer cheese with green pea mash ‘bhurji’, 2) raita with yoghurt, aubergine, and pomegranate, and 3) seasonal vegetables with split yellow peas ‘dhansak’
3 types of naan
Overview of our main course and sides
An American in Antwerp 