Oh what a relaxing Sunday it was. You say, a tourist district Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts made every London visitor a common destination. I say, rest assured, there’s more to it than just the famous blue door from the movie. And trust me, you won’t get a picture in front of it alone, as tourists constantly get into your photo frame. Not that I cared about the pic so much. I much rather preferred the quiet alleys with pastel terraced houses with a touch of glamour, vintage shops and the Kensington Palace Gardens.

Travel: West London | Eat: Farm Girl | Experience: Kensington Palace Gardens - Portobello Road

That’s actually where you should begin your lazy Sunday at Notting Hill. Get out of the subway at Notting Hill station onto the Notting Hill Gate Street and look for one of those information old school map posts which you actually can find all over London. It will show where you stand and what’s in the vicinity. And you will find everything is so close, within a decent walking distance from where you are. Spot the Kensington Gardens and just enter one of its gates to gaze at the swans elegantly gliding on the pond, monuments hidden all over here and many flower paths. I haven’t seen the Peter Pan statue that is here but it’s hard to miss the Queen Victoria monument or the charming playground with the pirate-like ship as they are relatively close to the entrance.
They say the Gardens used to be a „playground for nobility” and source of imagination and creativity for artists and writers. I don’t know about that but these days its ambience is dictated by the swans and tranquility you find on its trails.

Now, as you embraced your piece and quiet in the Gardens you deserve good coffee and a bite to energize you for further exploration of Notting Hill borough. Farm Girl is the place for both. Coffee, breakfast or brunch, pastries, all you need to power yourself with, based on fresh green ingredients, granola and eggs. But mind you, you won’t get a table there with no prior reservation or just by walking in. That’s how popular it’s become, yet still to be found only in two locations – in Notting Hill and in South Kensington.

Take their delicious coffee to go, Aussie style, and some pastry and queue for 20 minutes or so to wait for the table or just let go and stroll towards the most iconic and popular street in Notting Hill – the Portobello Road, the very road that is home to vintage shops, tattoo parlors, coffee shops, and the famous Portobello Road Market every Monday-Saturday. I missed it that very Sunday I visited Notting Hill, and I’m not sorry.

As much as I appreciate the market’s diversity of cultures, crafts, food and products, the local crowds and tourists flooding all over the market are not my thing anymore. But that's just me. Taste the market’s local goods and multicultural cuisine but you may be surprised that low quality and expensive products are juxtaposed which makes it impossible to grasp what this market is really about. As if it was a vending forum for everyone, no matter what they want to sell.

I’d rather pop into some of the stylish boutiques, antique shops or vintage stores that line up along the Portobello Road and in adjacent alleys where you can find a non-brand bag or artesian jewellery, a rare reading or customized design sneakers, respectively. I left one of these with vintage style T-shirts honoring Dawid Bowie and Foo Fighters. The store even had kids versions of T-shirts that, just as their adult versions, relate to the iconic images you associate with Depeche Mode, Guns’n’Roses, Metallica, Madonna, Freddie Mercury just to name a few. Don’t forget to get the Notting Hill canvass tote bag which many souvenir stores here offer in many colors and fonts. You can grasp alternative versions of tote bags at the stalls along the Portobello Road. They are funny twists of famous quotations by writers such as Shakespeare or a witty play on words of no authorship which eiher make you lough or offend more sensitive souls.

Should I even bother to tell you how charming and lovable the Notting Hill terraced houses are? Nah, you know it already and you should definitely dive into adjacent streets and alleys just to swim in those refreshing colors. Pastel blue or turquise, vibrant red or yellow, juicy saphire or screaming pink, the palette of colors is not exhausted, the houses are everywhere in the Portobello Road quarter giving home to posh and wealthy Londoners, celebrities and cozy tattoo parlors, art galleries, coffee shops or vintage stores alike. Just wander the colorful streets to discover hidden gems. Next time I’m booking a table at Farm Girl, for sure.