UK – Day 12: Notting Hill
Today was a very rainy day. Very rainy. I think several parts of the UK were badly flooded. After a bacon sandwich, my brother and I went out to Costco. Yes, Costco. The excitement. He was amazed when they actually recognised my costco card as valid. They had a 90″ 4k TV in stock. Price? 10,000 pounds. Bargain. It always seems that the UK is ahead of the US in terms of technology for TV. They had widescreen and high def before the US as well. 4k is basically 4x better than current HD and as such is basically useless unless you HAVE to have the newest. I don’t even know if videos are available. Certainly no broadcast TV. There must be some sample stuff around though otherwise, why buy one?
To really rub it in, they even carry huge sticks of black pudding for 2.50. Too bad I can’t take it back to the US. As it was the monday before Christmas, it was the busiest shopping day of the year, so everyone was there. The parking was terrible and it took us 20 minutes just to get out. Then we drove to Notting Hill, where my brother has a bathroom showroom. It took us about 2 hours and the total distance was 20 miles or so. The traffic was insane. The rain and traffic made for a very long day.
Black Pudding!
Hammersmith Bridge
Phone box
Eventually around 2pm we made it to the showroom. We passed over Hammersmith Bridge, which looks a bit like the famous (but smaller than) Tower Bridge. We were in a very exclusive part of London, where there many houses worth several million pounds. There was one road we went down which has houses worth about 20 million. Each. Crazy. I even saw the place the Pope stays when he visits London as well as various embassies.
20 million pound house
Notting Hill
E-Type Jaguar
The shop itself is very nice. They have a showroom with bathroom fittings from Tuscany and are the exclusive dealer in the UK. One sink I saw costs about 2500 pounds for example. A bath there? 8000. A bit rich for my blood, but when your house costs 20 million, its a mere bagatelle and the wave of a hand. Apparently Nicole Kidman was in the shop a few months ago, checking out the robes and kimonos. They have a 24k gold faucet/tap which they got in specifically to cater to the Russian millionares. Cost: 8000. The parking is very hard to get, so he parks in an underground garage. Adjacent to his spot is a 1960s E-Type Jaguar, and we saw 2 Aston Martins down there as well as a Ferrari and some other high end cars. But this is the rich part of London.
My brother in the showroom
The showroom
The showroom
After the tour of the shop, we went to the nearby Nandos. Nandos is a restaurant that does chicken but with a very tasty sauce, which goes from garlic to very very hot. Very flavourful and not available (yet) in the US, although I have seen some in Canada.
Aston Martin
Nandos
By now, it was about 4pm and we had to drive back across London so I could visit the sci-fi nerd shop in Croydon (again) and then get the train back to Angmering. The rain and astonishingly bad traffic meant that we got to Croydon 2 hours later. Poor Stephen. Eventually got to Forbidden Planet, where I obtained some Daleks (as you do) and then it was mere 20 minute drive for about a mile or so in the rain so I could go to the station.
The weather had caused substantial train disruptions, but I got the train as soon as I walked onto the platform. It took a lot longer to get back to Angmering though, and when I did finally get there, it was a “fun” walk back in the rain and wind. Downed lines and huge puddles did not help. Apparently, a lot of flooding happened today in several parts of the south, not far from where I was. I was lucky I was not further east as many trains were cancelled.
A pub with some Christmas decorations!
Notting Hill
Notting Hill