DAY 3 - Portobello Market & Walking, Walking, Walking

It's crazy to me that it's only day 3! I feel like I've been here for weeks. These last few days have been jam packed with settling in, meetings, walking around... and tomorrow is NO exception! We have been so lucky to have gorgeous mild/ sunny weather these first few days. Today was the perfect day to be outside all day.

Today, Cassidy and I woke up early to go to Portobello Market, a 2 mile long street market full of everything you could think of (most notably- jewelry, clothes, accessories and food). Within the market there was a smaller specialized market of vintage clothing. Needless to say, this is probably my favorite experience thus far. Aside from the tight quarters of the JAM PACKED market, the culture and people watching alone were incredible. I’ve quickly learned that the price of EVERYTHING is higher in London… food, “vintage” clothing, used stuff – EVERYTHING. With that in mind I really had to pull in the reigns but I did buy a very cool scarf and an AMAZING necklace with which I fell in love at first site. We also ate lunch at the market. A LOT of people told me that the food here wasn’t going to be very good – I have NO IDEA what they were talking about. So far my food journey has been very positive! There were tantalizing smells coming from everywhere at the market, and the variety was really impressive. I had a falafel sandwich and Cassidy had a really great chorizo sandwich (I’m being totally serious when I say this was a pretty sandwich). From my experiences, street food has proven to be some of the best and this was no exception.

After the Market adventure we went back to the craziness of Oxford High Street. Apparently we girls will shop at any given opportunity. We hit the major players - H&M, Zara, Uniqlo and Topshop. Now I’ve been to the Topshop in New York, but that place has NOTHING on the Oxford store. I literally got lost IN THE STORE. I don’t even know how they expect people to shop the place… If you saw something cute and didn’t pick it up you would never ever find it again! Another interesting thing about this store… When we got to the shoe floor, we were greeted with a “Massage & Pedicure” station AKA you stick your feet in a fish tank and let the fish bite at your feet. Wierdo Europeans ;)

So by this time we had been walking around for 7 hours and I just wanted to sit down! We came back to the flat and realized we had no groceries and were starving. This led to our first bus adventure of the trip. Luckily there is a supermarket a few bus stops down, so it’s basically door-to-door service. By the time we got back with the food it was almost 10:30. WHAT A DAY!

Tomorrow, the school has set up a scenic walking tour of London from 9:30- 4:00. HOLY WALKING AGAIN, I’m going to need a foot massage REALLY soon. The tour will pass sites including St. Paul’s Cathedral, the River Thames, Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, and the South Bank…and of course, Harrods Department Store.

I have TONS of pictures from today! I'll try not to go to overboard but I really like them all!

Crowds walking to the market

Awesome row houses

Rose gardens are nearly everywhere and they're GORGEOUS!

Claustrophobia

Mississippi blues

Imagine this x3,000,000 booths

More colorful houses

The produce is huge here

Mmmmm! CARBS!

Beautiful Peonies (my favorite)

These roses were perfect.

One of the street vendors selling Paella

How much are the studded leopard boots in the window?!
I'd sell my soul for these :)

My Lunch - falafel sandwich, eaten proberly on the curb

Cassidy's lunch - Chorizo Sandwhich
This was the prettiest, most appealing sandwich I've ever encountered. Is that wierd?

Fish feet at Topshop, strange.