January 21, 2012

Saturdays are always interesting because we don't get fed by the center (we're fed breakfast and dinner on every other day), and usually have the entire day free. So we're free to roam the city and have the day to ourselves. This Saturday we went to Portobello Market, another one of London's many outdoor flea markets. It reminded me alot of the Swap Meet back home, but less organized and much more crowded. They had booths with antiques, purses, spoons, instruments, clothes, food, scarves, telescopes, jewelry, and a ton of other stuff. We left around 11 AM, and it was crazy! Next Saturday I think we'll leave around 8 or 7 AM to try to beat the crowds.

I basically wanted to buy everything in this market. Everything is pretty well priced too. Unfortunately I didn't want to fight with the crowds, and it started raining a bit while we were there.

So, the best thing about this market is not actually anything I've mentioned so far. It's not the fancy antiques you can buy. It's not the creepy food you can look at. It's not even the rude people who squash you as they fight their way to look at a wall full of flashy feather boas (because we all need a new boa, right?). No, it was the amazing, beautiful street performer who serenaded me for over an hour. We saw a huge crowd gathered and heard a beautiful melodic folk voice dancing over the crowd, floating into my eager ears. Oh yes, it was my future husband. Robbie was promoting an upcoming band performance in February and playing for some extra cash, which the ladies in the crowd were only too eager to give him. He sounded like a mix between Howie Day, Benton Paul, Chris Martin from Coldplay, and the folk essence of Mumford.

He was perfect from his feathered cap complete with some ironic nerd glasses and sexy man-beard, to his scarved neck with his plaid Scotland pants and his flat brown leather oxfords. Oh Robbie Boyd, you know how to win a girl's heart. Since I'll be in Rome for his upcoming concert (a sad but necessary sacrifice), I felt it pertinent that I ingest his sweet voice then and there. And it was free too!


Bestfriend, Robbie

Basically Robbie Boyd Band is going on my top five best things about London. We stayed and just listened to him play, and he kept throwing us some precious side smiles when he saw that we were still standing there, basking in his attractive-osity. Ahhh Robbie, well done.


so attractive...


so artistic...


so adorable...

So after all the Robbie stuff we were absolutely starving (not only because we hadn't had breakfast or lunch but also because basking in the glory of a musical genius is very tiring). So we got food from McDonald's (I haven't had McDonald's in about 6 years, but I feel I'll be eating alot of it here because it's cheap and reminds me of America).

After a hearty meal (which included much frustration when both the cashier and I could not understand each other. She had the dang thickest Indian accent I've about ever heard and I'm pretty sure she felt like I had the thickest American accent ever. Luckily she understood hand gestures and got the idea that I wanted a chicken sandwich when I started clucking like a chicken and walking around McDonald's like one. However, pretending to lay an egg probably confused her more...) we decided to take a ride on the bus and just go around London. The buses (as mentioned in an earlier post) are AMAZING. The best seat in the house is on the top story right at the front. However, as these seats are right next to the staircase they are usually taken. We had to slowly inch our way up to the front of the bus as other people got off. When we got up to the front we'd just chat and chill, watching London fly past us. Buses are the best way to see all of London. We stayed on the bus and it took us all around the city. Eventually it terminated at some random little town in London, and we had to get off. But then we got on another random bus and rode that for a good 45 minutes or so. We stopped off on one bus and got some cookies, but then got right back on another bus. We went to Trafalgar Square, Soho, Buckingham Palace, Kensington Park, and so many other places I didn't even recognize. Buses are the way to go.

*side note- don't look at the rest of Robbie's band online. They are not attractive at all and he sounds soooo much better acoustic. Way to go, Robbie.