I’ve long heard tales of Notting Hill Carnival and when this year’s event coincided with my friend Jenny’s visit to the city we decided to head down and see what all the fuss was about.  We went to Children’s Day arriving nice and early at around 10.30am.  Having taken a few wrong turns navigating the walk from the station we were surprised to see only a few stands set up.  It turns out that the 10am starting time slot is merely a guide and, as one policeman told us, we needed to embrace the Caribbean carnival spirit and take the day in our stride.  Sadly we couldn’t stay for the main parade – I think it kicked off around 3 or 4pm – but we had a great time nonetheless.  We even got to visit the famous Notting Hill bookshop from the film!  We just missed Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts but maybe we’ll see them next time round, eh?

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