Portobello Market

Summer in Madrid is hard to deal with, especially these last few weeks, so here I am home trying to avoid the heat, and while I'm here, I've decided to do another blog post before 2016 arrives. Today I'll be talking about the Portobello Market, which you can find on Portobello Road (obviously), next to the Notting Hill Gate tube station.

In order to get there you just have to follow the crowd, walk by the Book & Comic Exchange store and keep walking through some streets that have very CUTE houses that must cost a pound per square centimeter per month (basically because it's Notting Hill we're talking about).

 

And then you'll get to this deserted street (yes) (especially on the weekends). But it's worth it.

 

The most interesting thing about this street are its antiquity stores and stalls, which go from the beginning to the end of the road, and of which I am a fan (something you might have noticed if you've been reading this blog for a while).

 

 

These stalls are there from very early in the morning until about 4 in the afternoon, so I'd recommend you go early in order to make the most of it.

Of course, not all of it are antiquities. You can also find a toy store, cafés, clothing stores, bakeries, and even a store and bar selling Spanish products (Garcia & Sons), which was nice in my case since I was able to find really good Spanish tuna.

If you keep walking straight (if you come from Notthing Hill Gate station) you'll see on your left at some point a wide street where there are more stalls.

 

 

As you can see there are lots of things to do on the area and all kinds of stores. If you decide to spend the day there, in order to rest and/or have a sandwich you can go to a small park you'll find on one of the streets to the right (I'm giving you the best directions on how to get there, eh?) where in summer you'll find some beautiful tulips (even though I'm not the biggest flower fan, they do look really nice!).

And then, if you want to keep walking or go shopping (since that's why many people come to London), you can go back to the station and keep walking the other way until you get to High Kensington, a nice but expensive neighborhood that's nice to look at and at the end of which is the Holland Park, which I'll talk about in the future (as well as High Kensington Street).

HoneyJam

Hello friends! Long time no "see". I can't stop listening to Songs: Ohia. Their album Magnolia Electric Co. is awesome... You should definitely check it out.

Today and after a thousand months I'm going to talk about a slightly cheese toy store. Well it's just cheesy in a few areas, and I mean, everybody has different tastes, so I don't even know why I said anything in the first place. It's a nice store and it has nice toys.

 

HoneyJam is a store that opened in 2006 in Portobello Street. It is located just in front of the Café Garcia (you can see its reflection on the above picture), where you can go have some churros if you miss Spain. Because, you know, I have churros everyday while I'm here... 

Anyway, what I like about this store is that it focuses on vintage toys instead of all the new technologic toys you can find everywhere nowadays - the store itself looks old, with its wooden floor and shelves full of toys that remind me of my childhood (although I have to admit that I like After Noah better...).

Maybe something I don't like that much about this store is the obvious difference between the boy and the girl sections: on one you will find pirates and the like, and on the other most of the toys will be pink and purple. 

But as I've said many times, we all like different things so maybe you won't mind that, and so maybe you'll find there the most awesome (pink and purple) gifts. 

In any case there is more HoneyJam than the girl section so browse for a bit and you'll probably find nice and small items (including the beautiful wrapping papers) that could make for good presents.

And if you get bored, you can always go out and check Portobello Road, a street full of stands, which I'll talk about next time. Now I'm going to play some guitar.

Book and Comic Exchange

Dear friends of the world wide web, hello again. I hope you're doing well. I've moved out of my parent's house and I'm currently living with my brother, a friend, and a little cat named Milou. Which means I spent quite a while without an Internet connection... But now I can surf the web every night and watch episodes of Modern Family and Criminal Minds 24/7.

On 14, Pembridge Road you'll see this little second-hand bookshop, part of the Music & Goods Exchange chain, which in their different shops sell all kinds of second-hand products, such as records, books, clothes, and more. In this store you'll only find books but there's another store in Berwick Street called 'Music & Video Exchange" (filled with records, cd's, and dvd's) (in case the name didn't make you reach that conclusion).

Already on the outside there are some wooden boxes with books at 50 cents. They're not usually very interesting but they're worth checking out!

Once inside you'll see that everything is organized by genres and alphabetically, which is always nice because some bookshops can get messy...

Furthermore, this bookshop is right next to the tube station and five minutes away from the Portobello Market (which I'll talk about here soon!)... What else could you ask for? Probably tons of stuff but this isn't bad for starters.

Inside you'll also find some stairs that will take you down to an area filled with comic books, manga, and other books that are even cheaper. THUS it's a total BARGAIN.

Actually this store is not that different from the thousands of second-hand bookshops of London, but they have a lot of comics and manga, and that's not so usual. Also, the price of the books keeps lowering every month. I remember I saw an awesome Quentin Blake illustrated Christmas book that cost 5 pounds, and I ended up buying it a few months later for 2. So be sure to check it out.

And now I'm off to have a salad.

The Hummingbird Bakery

Dear friends!

Today I'm sitting in my room listening to Osker's Idle Will Kill.

The Hummingbird Bakery is a little bakery situated on 133, Portobello Road, near Portobello Market (which is a market I highly recommend, but I'll talk about that another day). It rules. They specialize in cupcakes, although you can always find some pretty good looking cakes and beverages.

 

It is usually packed because since its opening in 2004 it has had plenty of success. In the UK you find muffins everywhere, but it's not that easy to find (good) cupcakes, which is why this small bakery decided to create their personal cupcakes. The place is really cosy, and although I've only tried one of the different varieties of cupcakes they offer, I can honestly say it's really good. I've also talked to some friends who have been there at some point and they all agree that it's worth going. So I guess that's pretty much it! The nearest tube station is Notting Hill Gate, in case you want to go check it out.
Here are a couple of pictures of the shop!