London 6 – An (Almost) Perfect Day in London

If you are in London on a cold, sunny Saturday in early January, then this is where you must go and what you must do (and in this order) –

1. Visit the Portobello Road Antique Market

Get there early, say by 9 or 10 am, to beat the crowds. Take the tube to Notting Hill Gate and follow the flow of people – you’ll find it, it’s not far.

Today, we’re only doing the antique part of the market. (If you want to give it a whole day, you can do the whole thing. It’s fun. ) This means you will need a plan. The plan is to do the right side of the road first, then when you hit the green market stalls, you’ll know you are at the end of the antique section of the market. Turn ’round and head back up the other side – it is the better side, with gallery after gallery filled with stall after stall of antiques.

Make sure that you walk through each and every market or gallery (and there will be many…)

Enjoy looking at all the wonderful antiques and talking with the dealers, who have time to talk since it is very cold today and the market is not as busy as usual. There is so much to see. Do your best to see it all.

When you start to get tired, have a coffee and a sit at the downstairs cafe with the dealers at the Admiral Vernon Antique Market .

Make sure to find one or two things that you love, and buy them. (I happen to love old African and Asian antiques, so I got a wooden statue from Tonga and an old ceremonial cloth from Bali, but you should get what you like).  Sadly, you will not be able to buy everything you want, including that nifty ceremonial headdress, because some things are just too big to take home on the plane.

Keep walking, and looking, and sometimes buying.

By now, you are getting a bit peckish. Have a sausage or a crepe at one of the many stalls lining the market. Even so, you will still have to stop at the Hummingbird Bakery.

There, you can get two cupcakes for later, because you know you will want them at some point. (We got Nutella and Carrot cake cupcakes, but you should get whatever strikes your fancy.)

You are almost done. Just another block or two of wonderful things to see. The crowds have gotten much thicker, just in time for you to head on. If you like, you can stop and get some shoes or second hand clothes on the road back to the tube stop.

No time to stop at Arancina , but what a cute little cafe! (Hmm, next time maybe you should have lunch there instead of a sausage…)

Take the tube to Charing Cross Station and walk to Trafalger Square.

2. Trafalger Square and the National Gallery

The steps of St Martin in the Fields provide a great place to watch the crowds. Stop downstairs below the Church and get tickets for tonight’s concert. (Don’t worry – the rest of the tourists will be at Jersey Boys or Spamalot – You will be able to get tickets at the last minute.)

Now head into the National Gallery . Check your bags and coat – you’re tired! (Don’t worry – there are plenty of places to sit while looking at the paintings.) Wander through the galleries, using the museum’s map to find your faves. It’s almost like a treasure hunt! Make sure you see the Camara Obscura in the same room with Vermeer’s paining of the Girl at the Piano.  And Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. And the Gaughans. And the Renoirs. And the Cezannes….

Oh yeah, and the gift shop….

3. Dinner and bronze rubbings at St Martin’s Crypt

Now you are really tired. But that’s okay – we’re done walking for today. Head back over to St Martin’s Crypt. Do a brass rubbing. Visit the gift shop. And have dinner in the Cafe in the Crypt . A little odd, perhaps, supping over gravesites, but hey, this is London and the food is fine. (By the way, they also have lunchtime concerts in the crypt if you decide to come at a different time.)

When you’re done, head upstairs for your concert.

3. Concert at St Martin in the Fields

If you are lucky, it will be a chamber concert of violin music by Mozart, Vivaldi and Bach. Or something equally as wonderful. The kids read their books and sketch while you listen to the music.  It gets very cold at intermission when they throw open the doors to the outside so you may want to head downstairs for a cup of herbal tea and those cupcakes you bought earlier. Or perhaps you already ate them. Oh well…

Do you like that wacky stained glass window? It’s been called  “a gynecological” rendering. I guess they’re referring to the vaginal-type light filled opening in the middle. I like it. Very futuristic for such an otherwise simple old church.  Here’s a better photo .

4. The way home

You’ve had a wonderful day and an even more lovely evening.

Do NOT ruin it by refusing to speak to your husband because you are cold and want to take a cab home and he wants you to take the tube. And definitely do NOT refuse to help him find the tube stop on the map because you are still mad and since he’s Mr Subway Guy he should know where the tube stop is, right? If you do do these things, then you must offer a make-up kiss on the subway home. Don’t worry – It will work.

However, if I were you, I would instead do what we did the night before and take a long double decker bus ride home.

Then it will have been a perfect day.