Notting Hill Carnival= Street Rave

"Held each August Bank Holiday since 1966, the Notting Hill Carnival is the largest festival celebration of its kind in Europe. Every year the streets of West London come alive, with the sounds and smells of Europe's biggest street festival. Twenty miles of vibrant colourful costumes surround over 40 static sound systems, hundreds of Caribbean food stalls, over 40,000 volunteers and over 1 million Notting Hill carnival revellers. "

Sounds like a good time, right? Only an attraction that a local would know about, The Notting Hill Carnival was first explained to me as a sort of festival / parade. In our minds, Havilah and I compared it to the Portland Rose Parade. Thanks to Peter's suggestion, we wore our North Face jackets in expectation of rainy cold weather. However.... this was NOT the case. It became perfectly clear to me as we arrived in London and made our way to the Tube, that nearly every Londoner was making their way to Carnival. The Tube stations we unbearably crowded. Bodies pressed against each other as though attempting to avoid hypothermia. The air unground is humid and stale with the looming smell of human odor and overpowering cologne. 

Above ground it's not much better, the sun is now shinning (which is crap since I'm wearing layers!) and the sheer number of people on the streets is intense! 

"There's nothing quite like the smell of Notting Hill Carnival. We're talking about the wonderful aromas of traditional Caribbean food..."   

Here, I would like to add that in addition to the smell of bbqed chicken and roasted corn on the cob, there was the overwhelming stench of pot, cigarets, booze and beer. 

I tell you all of this not to scare you (Mom and Dad, I was safe and always aware of my surroundings! ) but to simply point out a completely opposite experience we had, a mere two days later and about twenty blocks away from our quaint clean hotel in the Belgrave neighborhood. 

Hav and Dan

The afternoon was a panic of fun, excitement and apprehension about my new surroundings. We drank beer, ate spicy chicken and danced in the streets to Caribbean techno/rap music. Every time we moved from one rave to another, we had to hold hands to keep from losing each other in the bodies and filth that linked the roads. I quite literally felt like a salmon swimming up stream. Bless Adam, Pete, Jamie and Dan for looking after Havilah and I all day, as though we were little sisters.