- Quiet
on the Set and "Action"
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The well known movie Notting Hill has
impacted this once tourist free area. An area well known for food,
antiques, and other pending
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clutter objects is just a couple of
Underground stops down from the hotel. So, time to embrace the
masses on a Saturday morning.
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Portobello Road runs between two main Underground stops - making it easy
for a one way trip through endless smells of paella, breads,
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incense burners, beer hops, and crepe kiosks. If you want a
special pair of hot pink fish net stockings with your rare copy of a
classic
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book, this is the place. We ran the gauntlet of street and regular
shops then view some of the side streets - that includes the variety
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of block sized gardens. A garden bench is a nice reprieve from the
constant bonding in Notting Hill.
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Our next stop was the BBC Television headquarters. Due to the
pending afternoon flight, our schedule didn't allow for a tour. So,
visiting
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the set of Top Gear and Jeremy Clark's domain will have to wait for
another day.
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Late check out at the hotel and off to Gatwick Airport via the Underground
and Gatwick Express rail. The low cost airline Easy Jet can
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be not-so-easy. Again, another queue - going outside and around the
corner. They were trying a new model of one large queue versus
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individual destination queue. Since we were not checking in luggage,
it was a large waste of time; however, no choice since electronic
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check in kiosks are a future project.
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Ironic part of Easy Jet is that they will pull people out of line if their
flight times are close. So, the line basically doesn't move since
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people are constantly pulled and moved directly to the check in
counter. Eventually, everyone check in becomes a priority.
Hard to
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argue with the price - usually 25% to 35% less than the legacy
airlines. There are no assigned seats, so, just hope for the best.
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Since check in baggage is a fee and no limit on the size, most flyers use
this paid option to the full. It is a small mountain of luggage
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that is loaded on the Air Bus 319. Additional fees include
sandwiches and drinks on the flight; however, this is a well known fact
and
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not an issue.
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Nice smooth flight - though delayed - into Heraklion, Crete. Picked
up the non Porsche VW Polo from a local "all fees included"
rental
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company ($12 Euros per day compared to main companies of $30 Euros per day
PLUS insurance, etc). Hotel Sofia was just a kilometer
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away and the day was done.
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