Relaxing and Exciting Saturday

This past week has been incredibly busy so I haven't had the time to keep up to date with all the things we've accomplished. On Saturday last  I enjoyed a relaxing morning collecting my thoughts and getting ready for the next week and finishing up from last week. My roommates and I worked on homework until about 4pm. We had planned to have a fun day at Portobello street market as well as borough market. One of the things I am learning about London is that there is always something to do. You could live here your whole life, but I feel like you’d need to go out every night in order to see everything. 

The street market in Portobello was really cool. Filled with unique booths, as well as a mixture of jewellery and antique stores, the streets are filled with colour and life, even in the rain which we experienced. One of the many advantages to London being rainy in the tourist season is that many tourists get scared away. Many people who are not used to the rain opt to go see the many museums that London has to offer, while few of the more adventurous peoples were out amongst the colours of Portobello. Aside from some very interesting Spanish seafood that we ate, we didn’t buy anything. Because the rain turned so many people away, after an hour of being at the market we noticed everyone was packing up. The market in the summer is supposed to be open until 8pm and everyone was heading home around 5:30pm. We went off in search of something else to do, as we weren't quite finished with the city for the day. 

One of my friends had mentioned that she was in search of a Paddington bear for her niece. I had remembered an amazing toy store from when I came to London when I was 14. If one is travelling with kids, and they are looking for something to so that is simple, I highly suggest Haley's. One of the original toy stores, this seven-floor toy store has something for everyone of all ages. We went from Portobello to Oxford Circus which is in the centre of London rather than further out. We successfully found my friend the perfect bear, and we also indulged in our inner children and each got a little something from Hamley's VERY impressive Harry Potter section. 

On our way to Hamley's we accidentally found the nightlife of the Soho neighbourhood in London. There are streets and alleys that are filled with really neat restaurants. The area that we found specifically is called Carnaby. The little pedestrian centred streets are lined with fairy lights and when the sun is going down and people are starting to come out, it is magical. Smelling all the food, we remembered how hungry we all were as all we'd really had to eat was the shared Spanish food. Consulting the blog London Cheap Eats, we couldn't decide on a place and ended up sitting down in a Mexican style restaurant called Mahaca. It's a self-proclaimed Mexican food, but that's not what they serve. I say Mexican style because it's not as flavourful as American Mexican and the portions were a LOT smaller. Despite this though, I highly recommend it. It was amazing. One of my favourites was their take on a Toquito, which had sweet potatoes in it. Their street tacos were really good as well, with a kind of salsa that wasn't too spicy but just enough to add flavour. The place was pretty busy and it seemed to be a favourite among the locals. I think our waiter thought we were stereotypical Americans because we ate our food pretty quickly, meanwhile, the Germans next to us had obviously been there for awhile (and had ordered similar things that we did) and had taken their time. We also noticed that other patrons had been eating their food with knives and forks whereas we were treating it all like finger food, because back in the States, what we had eaten was considered food to eat with your hands. 

This was the first time that I truly felt a cultural divide. I haven't noticed many cultural differences while I have travelled around London because it's a decent melting pot of so many different cultures, but that day was a bit of a reminder that I wasn't at home. It's been interesting as I've been learning more and more about the United Kingdom, I notice things that people here do that are reflective of their heritage. The UK is filled with a lot more tradition than North America is. 

Hamley's has a whole floor dedicated to Teddy Bears.

 Our before and after pictures of our dinner.