London- living in the eye of a storm, you either sink or swim

London: Speed; one million miles per hour.  Work; at least forty five hours per week.  Play; minimum. Stress; maximum.  So what makes us Londoners love this city so much?  Why do we put ourselves out there on a “high alert, oh my God I am about to convulse” level for the majority of the week, queuing for the train, queuing for for the bus, queuing for the super market, even if we want to go to the loo, we have to queue up at the cash point to take out a tenner, to buy some gum, to get some change, to then queue for the change machine, get two ten pence pieces and a twenty, to queue through the toilet barrier and eventually get to the blasted place!!!!  Perhaps it’s that machine gun feeling we get when we are commuting home and are packed like sardines on the train whilst our face is glued on a b.o smothered arm pit and our right hand is shoved against someone’s crotch.  London is wonderful! I hear you cry, London is great! It is, I agree! But why? Why do we remain committed to  a city that draws from us such vast senses of hatred and stress, who’s pavements ruin our stilettos, who’s rain frizzes our hair?  The answer my dear readers is given to you forthwith; Londres, Londino, Londinion is also a magnificent city that refuses to conform, Dickensian in one blink and minimalist in another.  Transvestites and lady boys socialising with Sloaneys and  toffs.  That is why we love London.  Anything goes.  You don’t need to worry about what you are wearing or how you speak, where you go or what you do as all and sundry thoroughly accept, love and admire anything that is quirky and embrace imperfection as a sign of  idiosyncratic excellence.  London is like a Benetton advert, all creeds and colours side by side in a unified waltz to the cinema or a jaunt to the theatre.  On one end of the road is “Maroush”  for a shwarma and a kofta, on the other is “Mango Tree” for phad thai and tom yum soup.  A cauldron of infinite choice, by the river or by the green, old school uniforms or East London grunge.  That is why we love this city and why every arm pit sniffing, crotch touching, stuffy tube delay is worth hating, so that you can feel and experience the love of  a city like no other.

Finding The Perfect Pad For Your Child When They Go To University.

The best of us have been there.  Living in a grotty old flat where the taps don’t work and the carpets are mouldy, whilst we go out partying  and care not one bit for the new place we call home.  But is this right?  Should parents really be allowing their children to be living in filthy flats where the electrics are dangerously exposed and the fire alarms no longer work?  Why should a student, however financially tight, have to spend the first years of their newly independent life living in squalor?  The early varsity years, with no parents  to clean up after them,  cook for them or check that they have enough money to survive, more often than not miles away from any familiar faces is irrefutably daunting and finding your son or daughter a safe place needn’t be far more expensive provided you look around and are guided by an agent who really listens and takes care of your requirements on a more personable level, adhering to your budget as well as suiting the area and checklist of your “not so little one’s” needs.

Here at Notting Hill Properties we place a strong emphasis on listening to our clients and ensuring that once they have settled in to their flat, they are well looked after and feel comfortable with their surroundings.  Unlike other  property companies, we do not usher people in and out of our office at the rate of knots, but rather take time to learn and discover what our client is about.  With a one to one service, equipping you with your own personal agent, Notting Hill Properties is the ideal way of discovering London and looking after your teens on their  first voyage out in to the world of independence.

Recipe Day!!!!

Quick Dinner for those Notting Hill Busy Mummies Amongst You:

Tarragon and Tomato Stuffed Salmon

Ingredients

2 salad onions, finely chopped
½ x 20g pack tarragon
2 x 500g packs prime salmon fillets, skinned
3 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste
150g Frescopronti Italian Sun Drenched Tomatoes (from the chiller) or Waitrose Cook’s Ingredients Sunkissed Tomatoes, drained, plus 2 tbsp of the oil
100g Waitrose Half-Fat Mayonnaise
75g Greek Yogurt
25g pack curly parsely, chopped

Method

1. Prepare and light the barbecue. Pull the tarragon leaves from the stalks and roughly chop the leaves. Lay one salmon fillet, skinned side up, on the surface and spread with the tomato paste. Scatter with the tomatoes and tarragon. Season and position the second fillet on top, skinned side down, with the thick edge of one fillet against the thin edge of the other, to create an even thickness. Tie the salmon at 3cm intervals with kitchen string to hold the pieces together. Chill until required.
2. Meanwhile, beat the mayonnaise with the yogurt, parsley, salad onions and some seasoning, then spoon into a small serving dish. Chill until required.
3. Brush the top of the salmon with a little oil and position, oiled side down, on the barbecue over a gentle heat. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the lower fillet has turned opaque. Brush the top fillet with the remaining oil and carefully turn the salmon to cook the bottom fillet. (To check the salmon is cooked through, pierce a thick area of the upper fillet with a knife.) Transfer to a board and cut across into thick slices, removing the string. Serve with the flavoured mayonnaise.

Recipe Courtesy of www.waitrose.com