Child-free in London: Boden, Notting Hill, Somerset House & More

Practically since we moved here I've been saying that some day I would spend a day in London by myself. Finally, last week I made that happen. Ah what a different experience London is with no one complaining about walking, noise, crowds, taking the subway, etc., etc. I have to also say that I've been lucky enough to have been to London a couple of other times before where I saw some of the more traditional tourist destinations, in case this seems like an especially frivolous way to spend one day in London.

My first excursion was a trip out to the store Boden which I've always wanted to see. Boy am I glad my family wasn't along for that trip. It was a very long subway trip, I think outside the borders of London proper, and located conveniently to the highway, but not in an area I'd describe as charming. I'd always pictured it on Oxford Street or Knightsbridge or someplace like that.

Even though my family would not have been at all interested in making the time investment to go, I enjoyed seeing how the store was arranged. As you can maybe tell from the picture, some of it has a slightly industrial feel to it with the concrete floors, exposed ceilings and metal hanging racks.

More parts of the store. Actually this trip saved me some money, because I was able to try on a number of things I've had my eye on and not one thing looked good on me.

After making my way back to the city I headed for Notting Hill. First though, I needed a little food to keep me going. I noticed a Jamie Oliver shop and decided to give it a try. It has cooking supplies on the first floor - kind of Sur La Table ish - and the second floor has a cafe with a cooking school in the middle of the restaurant.

 I had a pork belly and applesauce sandwich with hot chocolate. Highly recommend!

For some time I've wanted to go to Notting Hill but knew that wandering around shops and looking at cute houses was not going to be something my kids would enjoy. 

 This picture is part of cute Portobello road.

I encountered some chain shops, but mostly it's filled with quirky independent shops such as this one. 

I'm crazy about mews houses. They were previously a row or courtyard of stables that have been converted into homes. Notting Hill has quite a few.

If I were to buy a ridiculously-out-of-my-price-range home in London and I didn't buy a mews house, I would be tempted by one of these cute little places in Notting Hill. 

It's looking very Christmasy in London. Sadly, I have not mastered nighttime smart phone photography, so I only have a few pictures to share. This is Covent Garden.

 Covent Garden's Christmas tree.

 Leicester Square is lit up and has a fun fair set up.

I wanted to check out the ice skating at Somerset House. My blurry picture doesn't quite capture how pretty it is. Luckily I did not have my heart set on skating since all the sessions were sold out. It was fun to watch though.

I thought that some of my Coach-loving family would enjoy seeing that they decorated the Somerset House ice skating rink tree.

I might have been able to fit in a little more in my day, except I had an errand to do for Camille that ended up taking up quite a bit of time. While I was waiting around for her shop to open I decided to check out London's Whole Foods. It has the look of an American Whole Foods, but selections are definitely mostly local. I was excited to find these cute little yogurts from La Fermier in France. They say "Joyeuses fetes" and come in these super cute red terra cotta pots. I bought four, and now I wish I bought more since I haven't seen them here in Cambridge.  I haven't quite decided what to use them for though. They're a little bit too small for hot chocolate, unless maybe I learned how to make that Italian style of hot chocolate that slightly resembles a melted, creamy chocolate bar in a cup.