the butcher shop front has got to have the drama of this color

the neighborhood's mainly portuguese on golborne road, at the very top of portobello road (avoid portobello!). golborne road's shops have piles of bacalao in their back rooms, dried beans in giant sacks, dried peppers and chorizo of varying temperatures hanging everywhere -- that's a splendid meal right there! the smells are overwhelming. there's a wonderful bakery called lisboa, to which everyone flocks. go over one street and it's all arabic, where no women are seen in the cafés, just lots of guys sitting around smoking cigarettes and drinking mint tea. it's sort of like being on holiday, in someone else's country.  i guess it is someone else's country. you never know what you'll stumble upon.