Politics and Portobello Road

So with the election looming and the financial institutions in meltdown mode, I constantly feel like I am one day behind everything. From college football to the MLB playoffs (poor Cubbies) to vice presidential debates, I get up in the morning and watch CNN to get myself caught up on everything that happened the day before. I'm like the Saturday Night Live skit of the man who is always one minute behind everything. Good news though - my absentee ballot arrived and I'm sending it off in the mail on Monday. So in one respect - I'm finally ahead! One month ahead even. And yeah, I'm not waiting for the rest of the debates - I've made up my mind. :o) (Don't forget to vote!)

This weekend, a classmate of mine from grad school was in town and invited me to do a little shopping with her on the famed Portobello Road.

I joined the crowds and eagerly ducked in and out of stalls looking for some treasure. Portobello road is (in my mind) one third antique shops, one third a giant garage sale and one third crazy street fair. Where else do you watch a guy comparing silver spoons next to the girl with the churros and chocolate sauce?

Alice's seemed to have a lot of interest. Tea sets were very popular...

In case you were wondering where you go when you need a telescope, I guess you visit the guy next to the man selling pub signs and cricket rackets (as famous as this is, the Ann Arbor Art Fair is WAY better).

I did score this nice vintage print of TinTin though. I drove a mean bargain and got the price down to five pounds. That was really the only thing that caught my eye but you never know - I might have to head back for Christmas shopping. C'est bon, n'est pas?

In keeping with my political day, I stopped to take a picture of the house where George Orwell lived. I am so a tourist. But perhaps, a good time to re-read some of his novels. Animal Farm might be particularly applicable in this election......

Unfortunately, Sunday dawned not so bright and clear. I was supposed to do this ride in Wales but as the weather was rubbish (translation: crap) I chickened out. The climbs would have been fine but with my poor descending skills, I figured I would end up doing more damage then good. So instead I spent the day inside and just made brownies. Nothing like a rainy day for some brownies and a good book....