To Market, to market to buy me some... Turkish Delight!

Today we went to two different markets: Portabello Road, and Borough Market. They were both fantastic, in their own way. Portabello Rd is actually only a few blocks away from where I live, at Palace Court.

If any of you have ever seen the movie Notting Hill, then, that is where we live; Palace Court is right off of Bayswater, which is also the same road that joins up with Portabello Rd. The closest tube stop is Notting Hill, followed by Queensway (which, the two are just about the same distance from each other, so it just depends on where you want to go as to which one you use).

The Portabello Rd market opens at 8am every Saturday, so me and two other girls, Lynn and Emily, left the Center at about 8:15 this morning and made the short trek over. Lynn had been before, but neither me or Emily had yet. As we walked down the long street, which is very long, I was thinking to myself "I'm not that impressed."

It wasn't very crowded and most of the little shop-sellers were still just putting out their souvenir-type goods and supposed "antiques" while the booths that lines the road-ways were being put up with old sticks and boards, little hangings and umbrellas popping up like daisies into the sky in preparation for rain. It was a grey, cloudy kind of morning and the humidity gathered up sweat on my brow, even though it was slightly cool. We passed by a lot of junk jewelry and British flags pasted on clothing and bags. There were a lot of useless items being sold.

Then we came to the food section, and a the place was like a farmer's market, with locally grown (as local as you get in the heart of London) veggies and fruits and baked goods. I snagged a plain bagel for 40p (we don't get fed on Saturdays, it's the kitchen crew's day off so we fend for ourselves), and continued walking. We were looking for some wellies for Lynn, and we found a few little shops that sold Hunter brand (the classic, English brand for wellington boots), but they were too expensive, landing at around 80 pounds, which, even if that was in dollars, is a lot of money for a boot.

We finally made it to the end of the road, with still relatively little traffic, however, when we turned around to head back to the top, meaning to peruse the shops and stalls more closely now that we had seen in general all that was available, a whole new sight awaited. The street and sidewalks were crammed with people. We had just been the forerunners I suppose, and all the crowds had followed after us.

This time, walking back up the hill, it was much more exciting and closer to what I had thought a market would be. We were squished and called out at and had to dodge passerby as we made our way up the street, but it was fun. We made several small purchases; I got a nice wool-knit hat with ear-flaps, sporting the British flag (which, I can't wait to wear! But I'll have to wait till I get back to America, or else I'll feel like one of those tourists who wears an "I love London" t-shirt in Trafalgar square), and my friends got some neat antique watches on necklace chains and some socks. Mostly the fun was just being there and seeing all there was to see.

Perhaps my favorite stall was one with old British army fatigues. There were gas-masks, bomber hats and pilot goggles, which I was sooo tempted to buy. They all looked pretty legit and also cost 20 pounds a-peice. Yikes! I may go back though and barter with them; I've heard that you can usually convince the stall owners to lower the price if you haggle.

After finally exiting Portabello Rd and getting back home we quickly recouped and went off to the tube and exited at the London Bridge tube station. Yesterday we were looking in Time Out magazine, which is a magazine that tells all about things to do in London, such as plays and musicals running, events, tours, etc. In the magazine we saw an add for a "Harry Potter Muggle Tour"- see all the places in London that inspired and are a-part of the Harry Potter book series! Free!

We jumped at that and quickly emailed the little tour group, but never received a reply. So we thought we'd try meeting them at the meeting spot. When we got there, we searched and searched but could find nobody, so, that being a failure, we (we now had expanded to a group of about eight) went to Borough Market, which was just around the corner.

Borough Market is about two or three times larger than Portabello Rd, and I think I was even more impressed with this place, though maybe that had to do with the fact that it was almost lunch time.

Borough Market is located on the south-side of the Thames River (so, on the opposite side from where we live). It is literally a little borough of streets converted into a market several days a week, most of which are covered by glass ceilings or are located under train-track tunnels so that the sound of the tube and the railway screeches and rumbles through the market, adding to the hustle and bustle and the excitement.

The market is comprised of four mini-markets that are all generally called the "Borough Market." We explored two today, one of which I remember is called the Green Market (my favorite). This place was full of food stalls. Everywhere you went there were stalls with jams, mustards, spices, meats, cheeses, breads, cakes, chocolates, candies, falafel, curry, German bratwursts, ripe fruits, veggies with dirt still on them, bags of herbs, oils for dipping in breads. Anything you could think of, it was there. And the majority of the stalls had free samples.

FREE SAMPLES!!! It was awesome. Everything here (in London) costs money, and for a traveling art student, abroad and far from home, anything free is a luxury and a delight! I had almost a full lunch before I even bought anything to eat as a real meal. I tried chutney and jam and preserves; I dipped little bread pieces in exotic oils; I tried fresh mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses; I tasted savory bacon bits and scraps of meat; I tried crumbs o

f fried falafel; I had delicious dark chocolate; and best of all was the Turkish delight and the baklava.

You remember, in Chronicles of Narnia, that Edmund absolutely loves Turkish delight? And how, when watching the movies (especially the old ones), that we never really understood what it was? (or at least, as a child, I didn't). Well. It is delicious. And I love it. I think I have a new favorite candy. It is a jelly-type or gummy-type treat, of all different flavours, sometimes with nuts or fruit pieces scattered inside, and all frosted with powdered sugar. I tried several kinds, one of which was a soft brown coloured pistachio-flavour, which was especially good. I think I'll have to go back and get a bag of it right before we leave London and I can bring it back for you all to try; it was completely and unexpectedly delightful.

After about an hour and a half in Borough Market, we made our way past the crush of tourists and locals through the market, then out towards the London Bridge tube station and took it back to Queensway and walked home in the hot humidity of the early afternoon. Not pressed for time by any very demanding school projects, I decided to write up my experiences in the markets before getting down to business.

Tonight is the last night of Proms and there will be an open air concert in Hyde park in a giant constructed amphitheater. We might go there and listen outside the walls (it costs 30 pounds to get in). There is also the Thames Festival tonight (and tomorrow, but we won't be going to that!) along the river, which might be fun to go romp around and see the fireworks along the water and see the parade of people and dancers and booths. So, who knows what we'll end up doing tonight, but hopefully it will be a wonderful ending to a great day.