Dickinson College Humanities Program in Norwich

Our stop was Notting Hill Gate, a posh residential area in the Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.The neighborhood seemed affordable and busy enough on first glance, but a turn onto a side street revealed nothing but lovely and large flats in a quiet neighborhood where everyone seemed to be at work.
As it is not a business district, shopping appears to be the main daytime activity in the Notting Hill/Kensington area. Shoppers, who seemed to be from other parts of London rather than tourists or locals, strolled by high-end boutiques and a few open air vendors on Portobello Road. On a Saturday, Portobello road would be packed for the local market.

Notably, there are no statues or monuments per se in Notting Hill. However, a plaque on Portobello Road indicates that George Orwell lived in a house there at an unspecified time in his life. This led us to wonder how different the neighborhood might have been when he was there, as he was not wealthy and actually spent time early in his career writing about the desperately poor in London and elsewhere.