A stroll in Notting Hill, London

Notting Hill has been made famous worldwide by the film starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts launched in 1999. Confession time: even though Notting Hill has been always one of my favourite areas of London, I only saw this movie two days ago😅 It’s not the kind of movie I would go for normally, but I definitely understand the appeal.

Still, the intro of the film is quite interesting. This is how it goes:

(…) but, you know, million miles from the world I live in. Which is here, Notting Hill. Not a bad place to be… There’s the market on weekdays selling every fruit and vegetable known to men (…) then suddenly it’s the weekend and from break of day, hundred of stalls appears out of nowhere, filling Portobello Road right up to Notting Hill gate… and thousands of people buy millions of antiques, some genuine, and some not so genuine. So this is where I spend my days and year – in this small village in the middle of a city – in a house with a blue door”

From William’s Monologue in Notting Hill film

I don’t know how Notting Hill was in 1999. I was only seven years old then. But I’m assuming it was definitely a lot cheaper then. The main protagonist is apparently almost bankrupt, an owner of a bookshop that only sells travel literature. Yet, he once was able to afford to buy a house with a blue door in the middle of Notting Hill. But I do think this is quite a nice description of what Notting Hill is. Also, I’m quite sure you could get something like this here as well:

Instagrammers love the area for its colourful houses. Indeed, the pastel-coloured Georgian buildings give the place a unique charm, take the greyness out of London, make a rainy day seem brighter just by looking at them. The idea of living in these beautiful residential blocks is indeed inspiring, but likely unattainable for most of us out there. Notting Hill has become one of the most expensive areas to live in London – the extremely clean streets, the luxury cars parked by the road, the fact that these residential buildings seem to have always immaculate gardens and a “just painted” feeling, will immediately give you that idea. But please don’t think all of London is like this. Far from it.

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However, it is free of charge to go for a walk in these streets and, most importantly, the Portobello Market in the famous Portobello Road is open for everyone, from any background, every Saturday and… it’s just the best place to find unique souvenirs, home decor, street food and, most interestingly, in my opinion, beautiful and exclusive antiques – just have a nice look at the price tag before falling in love 🙂 And be careful not to be deceived 😜

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With my hotel being just a 20 minutes walk away from the centre of Notting Hill, on my first Saturday after arriving, still, on the hunt for my future home, I decided to shake off the blues by visiting Portobello Market and remind myself of the uniqueness of this part of London. This week, I also decided to take some more time, take my camera and photograph some of the most beautiful streets of Notting Hill – making myself feeling very poor indeed. Just take a look at these beautiful façades and doors.

So, if you could, would you live in Notting Hill? And which colours would you choose for your house? I would definitely go with the pink door and the blue for the walls. And the interiors would be decorated with unique pieces found in the Portobello Road market. One can dream, am I right?

Love,

Nic