Well after the first weeks adventures on the tube, this week it was to be a more sedate affair.
Having missed ‘drowning the shamrock’ on St. Patrick’s Day – although I did wear green and did as little as I could at work – I decided I should get out there and see what delights London has to offer.
First off I hit Portobello market. Yes. This was going to be a lovely amble through the streets of Portobello on a coincidently beautiful sunny Saturday morning. Unusual for me, I was up with the lark and got there for about 11am. I thought I was going to get there before everyone else – but it seems we all arrived at the same time. This was one of the biggest crowds I have ever encountered on the street. I had, foolishly, thought that all I would have to do would be to follow signposts – but no – all I had to do was to stand there and let the crowd take me. It was like being carried along in a waft of Italian coffee and cigarettes; like walking to the most stylish football matches you had ever encountered. It was not so much soaking up the atmosphere – as getting shoved into it – admittedly by some very stylish tourists. I felt strangely underdressed for a lazy Saturday morning.
After that – it was straight to a friends for the rugby match. With a healthy mixture of Irish and English supporters, it turned out to be a great evening rounded off with a game similar to charades which every English person seems to know….well the ones I’ve explained it to since.
And to round off my second weekend in the big city – I found a really useful shortcut from the train station to my house…I feel like a local already.