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Published: August 24th 2013
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Friday morning we set off by our usual train connections to downtown London for Camden Market. Visiting this area is like going back in time about 40 years into the 70's.
Camden's group of markets is now the fourth most-visited tourist attraction in London. It is the largest street market in the UK, and attracts around 500,000 visitors each week. There are various markets located in Camden Town which are collectively known as Camden Market; these are Camden Lock Market, Camden Stables Market, Camden Canal Market, Inverness Street Market, and Camden (Buck Street) Market.
The area around Camden Lock was first developed in 1791 by the Earl of Camden, with the famous Regents Canal opening in 1820. The first market to appear in Camden was Camden Lock Market, which opened in 1972.
Today, there are hundreds of designer workshops, studios, stalls, shops, cafes, restaurants and bars selling an individual and extensive array of high quality goods from designer, alternative & vintage clothing and accessories to one-off pieces of art, furnishings, antiques, jewellery, records & CDs, collectables, arts & crafts and international food.
My only purchase was a Led Zeppelin T-shirt from their 1977 U.S. tour that I
Led Zeppelin 1977 Tour T-shirt
The concert I "almost" went to. My one purchase at Camden Market. narrowly missed going to in Seattle. Well, it took me nearly 40 years but at least I got the T-shirt!
Friday was Garth's birthday so we celebrated with dinner at Buen Ayres, an Argentinian restaurant on Broadway Market. Garth and I had wandered by last week and noticed the great looking ribs on some tables and liked the atmosphere so he booked us a table for his birthday dinner. We enjoyed our meal then walked back home to share some dessert selections Sue and Garth had bought earlier in the day and I picked up a bottle of Australian red wine, Cabernet/Shiraz, to wash it down.
Saturday morning Garth and Sue headed out by train on this cloudy and rainy day to visit her cousin in Milton Keynes, about 2 hours outside of London. Chris and I grabbed our umbrellas and walked to the Broadway Market to wander around, listen to some nice buskers singing and buy some fresh pasta from a stall for supper.
It was certainly a different atmosphere today with many fewer shoppers, all with umbrellas in the rain pouring off and on and the vendors huddled under their roofed stalls. We took cover
during one particularly heavy downpour under the awning at the Cat and Mutton while we watched a girl setting up in the street with a small amp and mic to sing. As the rain got heavier she stood under her umbrella, looking nervously at her amp/speaker and I ran out to try and cover it for her with one of our plastic shopping bags. But the downpour increased so much that she gave up, packed up quickly and joined us under the awning. It let up a bit after a while and she went back out into the street to try setting up again. Her call to the crowd for a black bin bag to cover the equipment had no response but she went on anyway. After all that waiting, her singing was less than wonderful and perhaps her amp shorting out from the rain would have been to everyone's benefit! Just kidding! She wasn't all that bad.
So back to our temporary home in Hackney for a warm cup of tea and to catch up on my blogging as we're off to Paris on the train through the Chunnel tomorrow! So Cheerio for now until I say Bonjour
A colourful Tube station
On our way home from Camden Market we switched trains here. All the floors and ceilings in this tube station are covered in colourful 70's era mosaics. from Paris!
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