| 02/03-Nov-2019 | Arrived in London yesterday afternoon after a glitch-free trip from SEA->KEF->LHR.  We’re staying in the swanky Kensington neighborhood this trip – quiet, but with plenty of cafés and restaurants within a few blocks. It has been 18 years since our last visit and we’re looking forward to taking it all in like it’s new again.

After dropping our bags at our hotel, we trekked along Hyde Park to the Notting Hill neighborhood and the markets of Portobello Road.  Fueled by pizza-by-the-slice from a local counter joint, we were good to go. A little rainy, but the permanent antiques markets as well as the weekend vendors were open in force and it was super-busy.  We wandered into a few shops, picked up provisions for dinner, and finally made it to Rough Trade West, a small outpost with a DEEP selection of new and vintage vinyl.  Jeff picked up a couple of records from one of our favorite industrial “groups”, so that was a win!

We continued north to the Acklam Village Market in search of some remnants of Banksy artwork but alas, the two pieces once in that neighborhood appear to have fallen victim to urban beautification  (aka white-washing). 

Woke up this morning to a cold but sunny day so we set out feeling pretty lucky considering the forecast we’ve been watching for over a week. We hopped the underground to Westminster to check out Big Ben and Parliament. Both are under some renovations, but the London Eye was looking quite lovely.

Next up, Leake St. Arches.  This stretch of Leake St., beneath Waterloo station, is home to some pretty impressive street art. Sure, it was fully of trash, dark and somewhat stale, but the art was off the hook.

Once on the Southbank, we decided to walk to our next destination: Fashion and Textile Museum.  We followed the Thames Path for much of the walk, taking in the sunshine and sights. Arriving in the Southwark neighborhood around 11am, we stopped into The Wool Pack for some small plates and pints for lunch.

Sufficiently fueled for the next segment of the day, we hit the Fashion and Textile Museum to see their exhibit “50 Years of Fabulous” featuring UK designer Zandra Rhodes.

The exhibit had a representative collection of gowns and several costumes spanning 5 decades of work. It also included 15 or so uncut panels of her screen printing textile work, the foundation of her fashion career. 

Hopped the subway again to the Brick Lane area to check out the weekend markets and Rough Trade West. The markets were off-the-hook amazing. Vintage clothing and accessories, handmade wares of all kinds, and street food like I’ve never seen.  

We did manage to make it into Rough Trade and found a few goodies.  We ventured further north into Hackney, but only Love Vinyl, specializing in dance/electronica was open.  Due to being so far of the “central” underground grid and weekend closures, we had quite a walk back south to get an underground line back to the hotel.

The walk was not without rewards. We took a quick detour to see an original Banksy; one that is, for now at least, recognized and persevered as the iconic street art that it is.

This is “Guard Dog” on Rivington St.

Finally, pizza. Shocking, I know. From Da Marios on Gloucester Rd. Wine from Odd Bins.