Day 2
After sleeping in well past 9:00, we went to Notting Hill to do some window shopping. With all the upscale home good stores, it was like wandering through a magazine. We then made our way to the Portobello Road antique and flea market. It was very crowded but lots of fun. I found many amazing antique insect and botanical prints searching for the design of my next tattoo (sorry Mom). But, since none of the prints had tattoo potential, I settled on vintage postcards as a souvenir instead.

In the afternoon, we took a break from the city to visit Kew Gardens. Visiting gardens may be my favorite vacation activity. I’ve dragged Jeff, usually willingly, to every garden in every city we’ve visited. He agrees, this is the best one we’ve been too. This huge garden has three greenhouses, two 19th century and one modern. For me, conservatories are the pinnacle of public gardens because they’re gardens housed in beautiful structures. Kew Gardens also has a 10-story pagoda that promised views of the city. (My second favorite vacation activity is hunting for the best city view.) I was again a little disappointed with the view of London but I got a nice picture of one of the greenhouses.

We ended our day at Piccadilly Circus, the Times Square of London. We had Ben and Jerry’s ice cream while watching a band of Harry Krishna’s parading around, dancing and chanting and adding drunk vacationers as they went. It was people watching at its very best.