The ballad of non-essential retail

Shops are allowed to start opening again today as Covid restrictions are slowly relaxed. This meant my Monday walk down Portobello Road was a bit more interesting than usual.

As pubs are now allowed to serve outside seats the area was humming with locals enjoying their freedom again.

At the south end there are shops selling jewellery and antiques, but I popped into Alice's to buy a couple of things I had spotted on earlier walks. 

For those of you unaware of Alice's, it's best known for being the antiques shop in 'Paddington 2' (run by Jim Broadbent.) It's the first time I actually met the guy who runs it and I have to say he and Jim look quite similar.