London W11, SW5, SW7 & SW10

Today (Friday) we explored all the areas we used to live in back in 1975 when London was our base during 8 months of travelling Europe.

We took the underground to Notting Hill Gate and had no trouble finding 21 Pembridge Gardens where Irish Mrs G let us rent a rather squalid room for a very cheap rent. It is now an apartment block of 11 units. We could see through the downstairs windows and the rooms looked very light and airy and nicely decorated. I would say the rents have increased accordingly.

36 years ago Notting Hill was much more down market, with a large migrant population (especially Africans and Carribeans) squeezed into houses like these, left to decay, or cheaply built estate housing constructed after the war. The neighbourhood is being gentrified (David Cameron, the new PM, lived in Notting Hill) but there are still plenty of signs of its very cosmopolitan recent history and wide socio economic base.

We started our walk in Portobello Road, the tourists' favourite, and were struck by the colourful terraces putting on a brave face on this grey London day. George Orwell lived for a time in one of these terraces.

The Portobello Road markets are very extensive but the sheer quantity of touristy rubbish is very distracting.

If you look closely though there are some amazing gourmet food shops in the little side streets, (eg Grocer on Elgin in Elgin Crescent) no doubt catering to the well heeled locals. We found the Travel Bookshop in Blenheim Crescent, the one that inspired Will Thacker's bookshop in the film Notting Hill.

But things became really interesting up on Golborne Road well past where the market area ends. In this part of Notting Hill you could really see the contrast between a still dominant Nth African street culture mixed in with the new urban affluence signalled by designer homeware and antique shops, gourmet food shops and organic cafes.

On the streets the Moroccans were still winning Rob's heart with their beautiful street food, strong coffee and Arab exoticism.

In Talbot Street we passed the red brick Tabernacle Centre for Arts and Education where Pink Floyd first performed in the 60s. These days the street looks quite genteel. Those children scootering along in this picture were with their rather cranky sounding Nanny.

And in the very posh Ledbury Road we found another Ottolenghi, in amongst all the other high end boutiques and homeware design stores.

But the poshest of all streets would have to be Westbourne Grove with all its designer delis and flower shops.

After a relaxing ale at Walmer Castle in Ledbury Road (where we were able to watch some of the Stanley Cup play offs between the LA Kings and the San Jose sharks on the wide screen!!) we walked down the opulent and quietly elegant Kensington Church Street until we found, just off it, number 11 Vicarage Gate (Heidi's Opal House back in 1975). We rented a room there one cold and rainy November in London.

We got talking to one of the locals who explained to us that the former private hotel was being gutted, a full scale conversion to a private mansion apparently, with a swimming pool in the basement!

We enjoyed our chat with this gentle older man (nearby resident). He also pointed out the empty building in the corner of Vicarage Gate - it had been a refuge for Distressed Aged Gentlefolk (DAGs no less) since the war - it was now empty, awaiting its full luxury upgrade too, funded by some rich Russians he said!

He told us to check out millionaire's row in nearby Kensington Palace Gardens. He told us one of them is up for sale for 55million GBP, and that is lease hold not free hold, as this land is part of the Queen's estate.

At least you would get to look across the road at Kensington Palace!

We noticed that a few embassies were located in this street. The security around the Israeli Embassy (big black road blocks, guards with high powered weapons etc) did tend to detract from the serenity of the location.

I have a very strong memory of the Barkers building and the iconic Biba next door on Kensington High Street back in 1975. The beautiful art deco buildings have survived but now they're leased by Gap, the Whole Foods Market and Marks & Spencer.

More walking down Earl's Court Road, past the tube station - which I remembered as being on the other side of the road!

Our feet were so tired by now we had to stop for a reviving coffee at The Courtfield opposite the tube station before we could face finding our third 1975 hotel in Earl's Court.

But 19 Penywern Road was just around the corner. No longer the "Air Terminal Hotel" it's now a Best Western Hotel; no doubt a lot has been done to improve the plumbing since we stayed there! Penywern Road doesn't look much different, although we noticed that the nursing home for Middle East soldiers (injured in the Arab-Israeli wars of the 70s) is no longer there on the corner.

We walk another couple of kilometres up Hogarth Road to Cromwell Road, passing through the multicultural grittiness of Earl's Court to the increasing elegance of South Kensington and then Knightsbridge.

We enjoy looking in the shop windows along Brompton Road, Knighstbridge. We saw a cooking range priced at over 38,000 GBP in the shop window of Divertimenti. We thought it would be brilliant for Davey for cooking one of his whole pigs, now he knows all about how to do it!

.....and Harrods of course.

Sadly I lost my sunglasses today (in Earl's Court I think) so I bought these new Ray Bans to replace them. No, not from Harrods but from Sunglass Hut (which at least was located on Brompton Road).

Feeling absolutely worn out by now we made our way via the Tube from Knightsbridge to Liverpool St station and then caught the 26 bus back to Hackney. By chance Davey happened to pick up the same bus at the Shoreditch stop. We enjoyed chatting about our respective days and doing some planning for the weekend until our stop at London Fields.