Woke up at 9am. Wait. What? We went to bed at 9pm. 12 hours!! We slept for 12 hours!!
Full of vim and vigor Gerry and I had a quick breakfast in our little mini-kitchen and then headed out to the tube to grab to the train to Portobello Road and wander…
For some reason I didn’t take many photos but I really enjoyed the area. It was a little touristy but there were some cool stores.
Playing dress-up with Gerry at the surplus store was fun…
I love that people bring all their products out onto the street. I think I might do that more at Sarah’s Place…
My favourite store was the costume jewelry store. I almost died at all the shiny … Every inch of the store was packed with jewelry and it was so overwhelming that I didn’t buy anything. That’s so unlike me. Maybe because there was a guy “creeping me” the whole time … 🙂
Starving we tried to find some food … we went into a few vegan friendly places in the area but the options weren’t spectacular (a running theme in London) so we stopped by this Falafel vendor. Their sign said “please be kind to and merciful to all animals” and it smelled AMAZING!
The Falafels were so good that I forgot to take a photo of them because they ended up in my stomach almost immediately. Probably the best food I had when we were in London. I wish I had ordered more then one.
The day got away from us and we scrambled to the closest tube station to head out to my Aunt & Uncles house for a visit.
Something else we noticed in London. Nobody smiles. Nobody. Everyone looks miserable. Maybe smiling is a Canadian thing …
We got to Jean & Geoff’s and spent the afternoon drinking tea and visiting. My Mum’s side of the family has never met Gerry and thank goodness they loved him right away. I guess I’ll keep him. 😉
Jean & Geoff are in their 80’s but they have the energy people half their age. They both keep very busy with their hobbies and I hope I am as energized and excited about life like they are when I’m in my 80’s. 🙂
My favourite part about their house is their garden. It’s a paradise. 
Most of their neighbours have paved over their backyards in favour of parking spots so their backyard is a safe haven for every single bird, bug and creature in the area. Love it.
After tea we headed to my Cousin Karen’s house for dinner. We had a lovely dinner with her husband and son and sat around playing “catch up”. I can’t believe it’s been 2 years since I was last in London.
It was really cool to introduce my hubby to them. It was really special. On the walk back home Gerry said “Your family is so great. I can imagine what your Mum must have been like and I think I would have loved her.”
TEARS! I burst into tears. What a lovely thing for him to say. Made my heart hurt with missing her. I wish she was still here. 🙁
We stayed up LATE with my family and then we realized we had to run to catch the last train back to our flat. I was so surprised to find out that the tube stops running after 12:30pm. I would have thought in a big city it would run all night …
We were a little punchy on the ride home. 🙂
It was a wonderful night and we fell into bed at 12:30 and crashed hard.