Impromptu walk

So due to circumstances, I had to be at Westfield mall in Shepherds Bush first thing this morning. I should have known the day wasn't going to go to script when the train I was on got held for 5 minutes, at Westminster, while it tried to buff up to the correct stopping mark. I eventually got to the mall, however the person I was meeting told me (after I got there) that they weren't going to be able to make it...!! I decided to make the most of it and mooched around the mall for a bit. I didn't take many pictures as everytime I got my phone out to take some, I kept getting looks like I wasn't meant to be doing it. I did get one from when I first walked in of the lights hanging - doesn't sound exciting, but it was pretty!!

My boyfriend is a self confessed mall rat, and in all honesty I'm pretty much the same, so it certainly wasn't a bad thing to be there. What I like most about the mall is that you can walk around for a good 2 hours or more and still not get bored - even if you're not buying anything. However, I had other things to do, so I left after about an hour and went on my way to Covent Garden to meet Josh (the boyfriend) for lunch. As soon as I got on the train we were told that, due to incident near near the end of the line, we would be stopping at Holland Park indefinitely - did I mention that I knew it was going to be one of those days?! Thankfully, I have an awesome app on my phone, appropriately named "TubeMap". Honestly, I don't know how I would survive without this thing - you can plan out your route by putting in your starting point and destination and it will tell you what lines to get and how long it will take. It really is a life saver at times as the regular tube map confuses me. Anyway, I checked the app and judging by the time distance, Notting Hill was really close to Holland Park. So I decided Iwould get off there and walk to Notting Hill to catch a different line from there. I'm really glad I did!

One of the things I love about London is the variety of different architecture there is. I know you get it everywhere obviously, but there just seems to be such an eclectic mix of it all here. Lots of different types of houses and buildings - especially when you get in the more residential areas. They aren't all high rises which I think is often a misconception that some have of London. Here are just a few of the houses I saw on my way. They stood out as being really pretty to me - I especially liked the different colored ones:

I carried on past more houses of the same style and came across a shop I just had to go in...

I have found that a lot of these little corner stores do have a random selection of American food products, and having an American boyfriend who has a penchant for Goldfish, I always check them out to see if I can pick him up anything familiar. This store did in-fact have Goldfish!They were really friendly in there and offered to try and get in a anything we wanted!!

So anyway, on I trekked with my Goldfish and I arrived in Notting Hill a few minutes later. Despite loving the area. I didn't have a lot of time to spend there, however I did notice 3 buildings together that I thought were quite interesting:

What I loved about them was, that they were all made with different brick and in a way totally clashed with each other yet seemed to go together really well (if that makes sense?!) I also found the building above the Sushi joint really interesting - especially the way the windows were positioned.

Anyway, I made my way to Covent Garden with about 20 minutes to spare before Josh was on lunch. perfect photo opportunity!! I never get bored of Covent Garden. There is always something going on and it always seems so lively with a really nice atmosphere. There is usually a performer over in the piazza (the other week there was a guy jumping through someones arms!), and in the lower level of the market place, there is usually a performer or 2. Today, there was an opera singer and it just added to the atmosphere even more.

The lady in red is the opera singer!

Another thing that is great about the market, is the selection of food you can get there. They even have 2 enormous dishes with fresh paella being cooked in them! I have yet to try it, but it always smells amazing!!

And if you fancied something sweet, there is yuforia (frozen yogurt), Creme de la crepe (crepe's) and Candy cakes (amazing cupcakes) to chose from...

Something I really love about the stores in the lower level market, is that they are in, what I can only assume are old cellars or tunnels due to the curved brick ceilings. They make them really unique and just add to the charm of the area. ( I hope this lady never finds out I caught her butt in this!!)

Back out of the market, the Royal Opera House is also in Covent Garden:

And of course, no trip to Covent Garden would be complete without mentioning the Apple Store! The largest one in the world and it is truly amazing. No picture of inside as I think they get a little funny about it, but here's one of the outside, as well as one of underneath the cool arches :

After lunch at Samurai Sushi (pretty good!) I made my way home, not before getting a couple of pictures of St. Paul's church that resides in the piazza of Covent Garden. It's actually very simple and minimalist  in design, but there's something really beautiful about it due to this:

Considering my day started off pretty iffy, it actually turned out to be a pretty cool day with a little bit of exploring thrown in for good measure :D

Until the next one...