Notting Hill and the Sunset Sons

When I was at my meal with Emily and Emma last weekend, I actually got a phone call from the lovely Charlotte who was extremely excited and needed calming down. It turns out she'd won tickets to the Sunset Sons intimate end of tour gig, to about 50 people in Notting Hill and was in need of a +1! If you haven't heard of them, I will leave all of their details in the bottom of this post, they're incredibly talented! After getting over the initial shock, obviously I agreed immediately and we decided to make the most of the day in London and head in early afternoon to have a wander before it all kicked off!




Of course I couldn't help but have a couple of photos in front of some of the gorgeous houses Notting Hill has to offer, a world away from the life and colours of Notting Hill Carnival, these are the houses of the esteemed borough of Kensington and Chelsea. There's nothing like a trip to this part of London to boost your motivation to work hard in life!




The sun was shining, the birds were singing and we were in great moods as we headed down Portobello Road, to explore all of the stalls, stopping along the way for a piece of fruit to keep us going until we inevitably went for dinner!







We took to wondering the streets, popping into places and walking through everything Notting Hill has to offer. I'm in London a lot, but I've never actually been here and I was blown away by how amazing it was. All of the quirky shops and restaurants with seating right on the pavement, I was in an absolute dream environment! Being the film fanatics we are, of course we couldn't go to Notting Hill without popping into a book shop along the way (sadly not the book shop!)

And just by chance, it was Alice day!





As anyone who knows me knows, books are my weakness, and with Charlotte being an English student, we were both in our absolute element. A purchase or two may have been made and I bought the most beautiful copy of Pride and Prejudice you've ever seen! 

Soon all of this browsing got too much, and with rumbling stomachs, we headed onwards in search of food.  After wandering the streets for a short while, we came to First Floor, a quirky pub turned restaurant turned cocktail bar on the corner of Portobello Road. The decor is dark oak and a 'no theme' sort with huge windows and beautiful hanging curtains everywhere beneath the high ceilings. The cocktails are strong, the food is great (and generous) and the service is top notch.










Cheers! 


This was a classic 'I'll order a salad to feel better about dessert' situation, only to find out the salad was a mountain of chicken and bacon on a bed of lettuce leaves! It was so delicious I was heart broken I couldn't finish it all. Charlotte went for the Spring Risotto and claims it was worth every bite! 

We decided against getting dessert inside, but as you know, I never skip dessert on a meal out. And so we headed for Hummingbird Bakery, a little world renowned bakery further up Portobello Road. They even do deliveries! We went right at the end of their working day, so people had come and gone, and there was very little left. Being a celiac, it can be hard for Charlotte to find bakeries which have a gluten free section, but the Hummingbird did not fail to impress and we left two very happy customers!








Instead of eating in, we decided we would partner our cupcakes with a classic pot of Earl Grey, and headed for a place to perch to kill some time, eat cake and drink tea. How quintessentially British! We eventually found the Kitchen and Pantry with some seats on the street, ideal to people watch. I am determined to come back another time and have some of their food or a raw juice. Everything looked amazing on the display!




By the time it was ready to go we were feeling a little sleepy from all the food and tea and desperately looking forward to having a cocktail or two to wake us up whilst enjoying the band! But it was not to be. After heading to the Rum Kitchen and buying our drinks, we then saw on Twitter the band had actually had to change venues due to sound problems and we had to go on a wild goose chase across London to find their other venue!

But we found it. (Thank you Google Maps)!


It was more like going to see your friends play at a pub than well established artists! We headed upstairs to this room and found it nearly empty except for the band who greeted us exceptionally warmly, especially considering Charlotte had spat cider everywhere in nervous laughter when she realised how intimate this intimate venue really was! 




Sweaty betty's! In hind sight we probably should have got a photo with them all before it started, but we were a bit giddy on life at how exceptionally small it was and how they all kept coming over to us for a chat! 

All in all, it was an amazing day. And the cherry on top of the deliciously quirky,  beautiful cake was the maccies chips and this beautiful purchase for the train ride home!


I hope you're all okay with these photo heavy, 'Day in the Life' posts! At the moment my brain can only concentrate on my degree as my exams are overwhelming! But as soon as they're over there will be some classic Alice's Antics lists and opinions up! Yesterday was the most fantastic day, and I am so thankful to the oh so gorgeous Charlotte for bringing me along as her +1! 

There's been some trouble with the Bloglovin platform lately, so provided this one works, if you haven't seen the one I posted last weekend please take a look, it involves sharks and penguins...

Ciao for Now!
x


Sunset Sons- New EP, Twitter, Facebook

Charlotte- Twitter

3 comments

  1. Posts like this make me want to book a plane ticket immediately for London. It also made me really want a cupcake..will have to go searching or baking! Lovely post! For some reason I just saw your bloglovin post today...the one from 4 days ago. Hah :)
    xx
    Kenzie
    Behindhazeleyes06.blogspot.com

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  2. I never heard of someone actually winning cool trips like this one, lucky her (and lucky you for being invited to come along :D)
    Nottin Hill looks like the perfect place to live in if you enjoy art and pretty looking, comfortable homes.
    The rainbow cake makes my mouth water and eventhough it's the morning for me rightnow, I'm craving cake now, hehehe.
    Thank you for sharing your experience ♥
    letscoba.blogspot.com

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  3. Loved reading this, seems like you had a pretty good day :) The photos are so beautiful and now I crave cake hahah
    Also I'm in love with that Pride and Prejudice edition, it's so pretty.
    Anna x
    dropsofanna.blogspot.com

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