Markets

Natural History Museum
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Today was Saturday...market day!  This morning we went to the Portabello Market, right by our apartment.  It really took over an entire street, which was nice because we were able to walk right down the middle and not worry about any cars coming.  The markets here sell everything, but Portabello had a lot of antiques/silver in addition to the tourist shirts/funky clothes/fresh fruit.  We didn't stay too long because we had to catch the tube down to the Science Museum for an IMAX - it was about space and narrated by Tom Hanks.  We really love IMAX and see them any opportunity we get - too bad there are none in Anchorage!

Wonderful cheese at a market
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We next went into the Natural History Museum to see their neat dinosaur section, which was quite an experience.  It was one of the most claustrophobic experiences of my life, there were so many people.  We all had to shuffle slowly through the section, and once you step in there is no going back - you had to go with the crowd.  So we were swept up amid baby strollers and slow moving people, over a catwalk above the skeletons and back down around the animatromic t-rax.  I would have really enjoyed seeing all that except I can't stand being smooshed in so many people, especially all those slow strollers!  Still, we were glad we at least tried that museum.

Next we went down to the Borough Market, where they had fantastic stalls of fine food to take home as well as food vendors.  I got a grilled cheese sandwich with veggies in it that was like no other - it made normal grilled cheese look like crap.   The cheese they used (I never found out what it was) was so good and tangy!  I also got a yogurt smoothie and we split another Hawaiian smoothie - it is thirsty work, all this walking! =)

We went up to Camden Market, which had some really funky clothes, but unfortunately it started to rain a bit and we were pretty market-ed out.  So then we caught the tube back down to The Tate Britain, another interesting museum.  Its collection was mainly British artists.  My favorite paintings were 'Ophelia' by John Everett Millais and 'The Lady of Shallot' by John William Waterhouse.

Tomorrow is our last day in London.  Time to fit in all the final things we wanted to see, and pack to go home!  Keeping our fingers crossed that getting to the airport 4 hours early will be enough time to get through the added security...