Living in the UK

Portobello Market at Notting Hill, London has become one of the most famous tourist attractions in the world.

Many of the Pubs, Antique Arcades and Streets around and about the area have exotic sounding names. The area of Portobello market was originally a farm, which was named after Puerto Bello in the Caribbean in memory of an English naval officer - Admiral Vernon (12 November 1684 – 30 October 1757), who captured the town in 1739. (Puerto Bello is a port city in Colon Province, Panama. It is located on the northern part of the Isthmus of Panama).

Since then the area has become built up with houses, shopfronts and the street market, however pub names such as the Portobello Gold and the Portobello Star (navigation) are references to those heady seafaring days off the Spanish Main (Spanish Main = extensive coast line in the Americans. For more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Main). One of the Antiques Arcades is even known as the Admiral Vernon.

You may have heard of Notting Hill and the market in the movie – Notting Hill starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant where they fall in love near the market area… This too had made its own history impression on the neighbourhood. (There was no escaping from mentioning a Hollywood film – sorry!!!)

btw – when Udi tried to find out how to get there from the bus stop he got the following directions: "follow the crowd" - funny, but it worked…

Here are some photos we took: (more photos @: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=klein.un&target=ALBUM&id=5572828971806513345&authkey=Gv1sRgCKLj-OSm7cGmoQE&invite=CP-m9IoN&feat=email )

You probably have noticed that I neglected my blog latelyJ. But Not to worry! I did not waste my time and have continued familiarize myself with this beautiful city. You must have heard about Leicester Square, Covent Garden, Camden Market, Piccadilly Circus etc. My "job" is to know how to get there, what to see there and above all get to know unique and magnificent other places to recommend you.

I learn that it is quite fascinating to take a walk through the small allies and streets near Oxford Street. Hidden local pubs, street lamps, building's staircases and amazing balconies are all representing a different time and era and appear to be more remarkable with every time you look at them. And all of that in the winter time. Think what it will look like in the summer – all the colures of the buildings will come alive, people will be dressed in bright and sunny clothes and the sunlight…oh the sunlight… it will be an enchanting sight.

I want to share with you some of our latest adventures:

We had a long vacation during Christmas and New Year holidays so yours truly (and her partner) rented a car and visited Oxford and Bath. Both are impressive cities and each has its own delightful sights.

As you can see in the photos we visited the City of Bath who was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1987. One of the sights we visited was 'The Roman Bath' which is located below the modern street level (photo 1). There are four main features: the Sacred Spring, the Roman Temple, the Roman Bath House and the Museum holding finds from Roman Bath. The buildings above street level date from the 19th century (photo 2).

Although, as you may have learned by now, we are not a Museum 'fans', we decided to check out the Victoria Gallery. And it was a good decision. It was not a big gallery for one, plus they have a portrait chamber with some beautiful pieces. I added 2 photos from the gallery (photos 3+4).

At Oxford we toured in Balliol College where many VIPs started their academic life. Guys like: Paul Almond (a Canadian former television and motion picture screenwriter, director and producer), Richard Dawkins (a British ethologist and evolitionary biologist, writer of The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion), Pete Snow (a British television and radio presenter), Rana Dasgupta (a British-Indian novelist and essayist), and Sir John Richard Hicks (a British economist; received the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences). Don't feel bad if you don't recognize the names. I for example only heard of Richard Dawkins...

Remember when I wrote about Harry Potter? Well… when we entered the College's facilities we felt like we were stepping into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (photo 5). I visited 4 Universities in Israel (Tel Aviv, Ben Gurion, Hebrew University, and Bar Ilan) and none of them have even the slightest resemblance of the Colleges here. I could not have imagined myself doing any studding here with all the beauty, knowledge and history combined to a stream of unconsciousness remainder of the scholars who used to walk the corridors of the College (photo 6+7).

And now - to the photos…