Five Countries Four Marlboroughs: Portobello Road, Hyde Park, Oxford St and....back to the markets for me!

Good Morning London! Waking up after sleeping 10 hours everything felt better. We all agreed the apartment wasn't that bad - apartments aren't big in London right? We've decided we'll stay in our 'bohemian' apartment and get back to the whole purpose of staying in an airbnb - to live like a local.

The weather forecast was for cloud - no rain - so I decided we would head to the Portobello Road Markets. So that the kids wouldn't riot before we got there, I told them we were going to walk down the famous Portobello Road. The start of the road is only a couple of streets from our apartment and as soon as we got there Will knew he'd been tricked! I was in market paradise - food stalls, fresh produce, hats, scarves, second hand clothes, old wares, records, cameras and buskers. People were everywhere and there was such a good vibe!

James and I decided straight up to buy the hot chips - mine had parmesan & garlic aioli and James went for plain. Will went for the butter popcorn and Terry for a portuguese tart. There were paellas, churrasco, gozleme, pulled duck rolls, crepes, sugar cane juice, homemade lemonade - the smells were incredible. I was in paradise and I must have looked like a cheshire cat walking down the street!

It took a couple of hours to get from one end of the street to the other as there was so much to look at the whole way. And i have to say it again - the people! People were everywhere and I can't tell you how many different languages we heard.

We headed to the Notting Hill gate underground and took the tube to Marble Arch. A lady heard us talking and came over and asked if we were Australians. Once we said that we were, she was so excited. She started telling us how she'd lived in Sydney for 18 years and told us that Peter Garrett was her brother-in-law. Once at Marble Arch, we decided we would go squirrels spotting in Hyde Park and Will found the first squirrel! It was very windy and cold and there was a protest on in the park - to do with the refugee crisis - so we decided to leave and we headed off down Oxford St. Oh my goodness the shops! I'd forgotten how amazing the shopping is and we walked all the way down to the Bond St tube station. I even managed to go into a few shops without complaint - a rare feat with the boys! By this stage, Terry and the kids had had enough so we decided to head back to our apartment. We tubed it back to Notting Hill Gate station and then walked the 25 minutes back to Ladbroke Grove - i can't wait until the Ladbroke Grove station reopens on Monday!

Back at the apartment all three boys collapsed but i just wanted to head back out. I just HAD to walk down Portobello Road again! So off i went for another few hours and I walked from one end to the other all over again. Then i went to Poundland - much like our Dollar King - and then to Sainsburys to pick up a few more supplies. Berries are so cheap (raspberries and blackberries) and I'm going to make the most of it and eat them every day! Finally I'd had enough, I'd walked all day so I headed back to the apartment for a night of uno with James.

And mum - if you're wondering why there are a lot more photos of James....its a challenge getting a teenager to partake in photos!!