From East End Jumble Sale To West End Sightseeing

Last Saturday was an interesting day.  Having family visitors here from Yorkshire, who wanted to do a bit of sightseeing, everyone headed into town early to board the tourist bus.  I, on the other hand, stayed back to walk the dog and then headed in to meet them a little later. 

On the way into town I stopped off at one of my favourite jumble sales at our local Hospice.  It is an Aladdin's Cave, which is actually the name of the basement area where most of the stalls are set out.  I always head straight for the linen stall and check out the fabrics and linens and wasn't disappointed.  I found vintage table cloths,  pillow cases (new in packet), napkins, aprons and a floral scarf.  All for £2.  I haven't shown all the items here as some I need to wash before photographing.  If they come out okay I will post pictures later in the week.

 

 

I then headed to the shoes where I found a pair of nearly new leather shoes for £2 which fit beautifully and are really comfortable. they've got a bit of a 'granny chic' look and feel about them which I quite like.

Finally I headed to the book stall and got 3 books for £1. 

So I managed to fill a small bag for just £5.  I didn't buy anything else, as I would have to carry it around all day, and headed off into town.

Whilst making my way to meet the others in Hamleys on Regent Street, I did a slight detour and popped into Liberty for a quick look around the haberdashery department.  Always a favourite.   I then wandered up the road to our arranged meeting place.  Just as I got there, a procession of vintage bicycles and cyclists dressed in vintage clothes came past.  It was a fabulous sight.  It's great when you happen upon something randomly like that.  I took a few photos to share with you.  The costumes were fabulous with very authentic attention to detail.

After a quick phone call to find out where the others were, I joined them in the store where we had a look around the vast array of toys.  To be perfectly honest I find the store quite overwhelming at times, so I can't imagine what it must be like for a child.  I love to visit at Christmas though, as one of our pre-Christmas family rituals.

From there, we wandered off down Saville Row (the tailoring shops are fascinating) and Burlington Arcade to Green Park where we rejoined the tourist bus route and we all continued on with the sightseeing.  I've been in London over 15 years now and it was the first time I'd been on a tour bus.  It was pretty cold upstairs with no roof.  I soon took cover under the roofed part of the bus, especially when it started raining.  I was slightly disappointed that they didn't have real life guides on all of the buses, as their live commentary beats a recorded version every time.  We did get a real live guide on one short bus ride and it made such a difference.

We had a lovely afternoon sightseeing, then stopped off at St Pauls and the Monument, before returning home.  Sometimes it's great to have visitors and to go into London and just be a tourist for the day.  You forget what it is like to travel around looking at and appreciating what is around you, instead of it going unnoticed most of the time as you go about your daily business.