London Day 3

The sun hadn't start to melt the ice on the street when we left the hostel for the third day in London, a day with ambitious plans. Our guide suggested us a visit to Portobello Road, so that was our first destiny. It's difficult to calculate the lenght of Portobello Road Market on a saturday morning – for us it seemed to have at least two quilometers, but the fact of being really difficult to move on the overcroweded streets might have influenced our perception.
Portobello Road Market is a paradise for collectors. Antiques, rare random items, design pieces, everything is there. It's difficult not to find something that seems like an interesting purchase. Nuno started to negotiate some old cameras, but no deal made. The only deal in Portobello Road was a demand from our starving bellies – the typical brownie. We ate, it was so awesome that we bought more for later, feeling that we wouldn't eat anything better ever!
From Portobello Market we went to Camden on the other side of the city. Nuno had been there befire, but every time in Camden Market is a new experience. Again the croweded streets were there, but Camden is less variable than Portobello Road, that has a specific day when the market is “mounted” on the street.
For the ones that were never in Camden, the best option is to see the pictures published with this post, because it's difficult to explain or to compare to something that we know. The shops – tattoo, shoes, comic books, watches, clothes, and so on and so on - all with decoration outside, the “alternative” environment everywhere, the restaurant's area... everything deserves a second look because everything there is original almost reaching the weird.We ate chinese food, bought amazing new camera scarf and blouse for Martyna and a watch for Nuno, entered the underground and headed up towards the center of London to take some missing pictures in our portfolio, and to visit Buckingham Palace. To get there, we went through St. James Park where the squirrels take almost all the attention from the tourists. Picture in front of Buckingham Palace? Check. Visit to Downing Street? Check. :) - Time to go to see the best view to the city of London from London Eye at best time – sunset. After some wait in the line we got to the giant wheel that is like a 40 minutes visit to the city of London, something that – and only focusing on main points – doesn't take less than one week. To add to the stunishing view, there is all the information about what we see in the horizon in this tablets. London Eye is expensive? Yes! But it is tottally worth it, and as we said in beggining, the best time is in sunset time. In 40 minutes, the sun hides, the night falls, and it is possible to see London at night, our last night there...

London Day 2

On second day in London, we were not woken up with snow in the window, like on the previous, but with a shy sun between the clouds inviting us to go out of the hostel earlier.
After a slight problem in the metro - Martyna's excitement to see Tower of London and Tower Bridge couldn't wait for Nuno to enter the subway :), and we got apart for one station - we arrived to one/two (Bridge and Tower) of the London's landmark(s). Almost fighting for a spot with other tourists to take the cliché picture with Tower Bridge, we made the usual photossession. The price of the entrance to Tower Bridge was stronger than our will to see it from inside, and we left for our second stop - Maddame Tussaud's.
Even though it wasn't Nuno's first time in London, it was thing that he didn't have the oportunity to visit on the first trip. Martyna's will to take a picture with Audrey Hepburn - just like her mum had one - was one of the reasons to visit it. Once inside we found more. Even though we noticed some missing personalities - like the recently new elected pope - we enjoyed taking pictures with the waxed versions of personalities that were there. We impersonated Chris Brown "carissing" Rihanna, imitated dance from One Direction's clip at the door of Downing Street, revenged the FMI and EU austerity measures in Portugal, discharging the frustrations on german chanceler, posed next to the two portuguese personalities represented in the museum and discussed matemathics with a crazy white-haired old guy...
In the end, a bonus, a 4D movie entering a life/death experience - SPOILER ALERT! - that we survived because The Avengers - saved the day and the city of London.
Who was in London knows that on the second day, if the subway is the transportation method chosen, there is a sentence that is not leaving your subcouncious and councious - Mind the Gap. At this time, this was 40 per cent of the comunication between us - "Nuno, mind the gap!" - ok, less, but at least 5 per cent, or 3. Still a lot! Too much! :)
With a good discount, it compensates to buy a joined ticket to Maddame Tussaud's and London Eye. We thought about using both in the same day, but when we arrived to the giant wheel, the Sun was almost hidding and we decided to wait for the next day.
With some energy in our batteries, we still walked in Westminster area for some hours more, and we had the first contact with Downing Street and Saint Paul's Cathedral.
Curious how it would look Tower of London at night, one more stop on the way to take some more pictures of the lightened Tower Bridge, and Tower of London itself.
Back to our "hometown" - the awaited dinner - lasagna - spicy as it should be in East Ham (if you don't know why, read our previous post!), and polish beer - chapter two. :)