Portobello Road And Bits of Kensington and Nottinghill

After 20 months of this you'd think we'd know better. Better how to calculate the effects of COVID on sights, crowds, markets, and so on. But then I nearly always forget to take my mask to the Waitrose down the street and have to come back for it. We'd had some good experiences on Portobello Road in the past--fun, if not great purchases--and wanted to try it again. We did, and, of course, were disappointed. After 20 months of COVID, the merchants have had little opportunity to acquire new goods, and the public are still not out shopping such places. We did the length of Portobello Road, gave up, and then meandered into and through some of Kensingston and Nottinghill. Not our best day, but still a few pix worth recording.

Food Court; every cuisine represented; no one was hungry

Some of the side streets were more interesting; color-coded, too,
unlike most of Kensington

By noon, things were picking up, a bit

Vicki's the only one in this store of jewelry stalls wearing a mask

We're done and moving on

I always thought mews had something to do with cats

But I know now that mews are former alleys, courtyards, with
accommodations for horses and their grooms, buggies, drivers, and
other caretakers, upstairs, now converted to million dollar studios
and one-bedroom apartments...with garages

Monotonously beautiful

Fencing around the private park on the square; with
flying buttress

An entire square of these, four streets surrounding the park; each
identical

Beautifully monotonous

Nice park, though, award-winning

No riff raff, however

We stopped to briefly gawk at Kensington Palace

Statue of William of Orange, a gift from the Kaiser to the King,
1907, back when they were close personal buds

Then, after passing through Kensington Gardens, at last our day
was done

But with ill portents looming...