London Calling Again

As you can see, I love alternative colorful markets so Camden Lock Market is on my itinerary whenever I take the group of pupils to London. We always take a walk from Regents Park along the canal and spend a few hours browsing, enjoying the lively atmosphere and staring at funny looking creatures. The girl dressed in a boring, normal outfit in the last photo is Filipa, my daughter.

But Camden Lock is not what it seemed to be 10 years ago. Last year, when we went there, I could feel the difference. Most of the interesting stalls were gone, the right side of the market was full of cheap Chinese stuff. Half of the market was a building site,  new developments of Camden Stables Market were being built at that time (I do hope it will have been finished by the time I come, with all the boutiques back in their places). The whole place seemed to have lost its charm. You could feel it has become commercialized, turned into just another tourist attraction. I think it goes like this. First, original and creative people find a meeting place of their own, they open shops and cafes. As they are creative and interesting, they start attracting tourists. When the tourists come, uncreative trade people smell money and they come too. Then there come the entrepreneurs, who want to earn even bigger money. As soon as they come, the place loses its charm. And, slowly, creative people move to another interesting area to make it their own. Creative people are now moving eastbound into Brick Lane, so last summer I went to East End to see what's going on there.
Brick Lane spelled its charm on me, the same as Camden Lock did a long time ago. It's original, charming, buzzing with creative energy. So I'll certainly pay it a visit when I come to London next month.

Very close to Brick Lane there is another interesting place I discovered. 

It is Spitalfields Market (it takes its name from the hospital). 

Stalls with vintage, retro, funky clothes, curiosities, jewelry, hand made things, intriguing junk .

The market is surrounded with independent, trendy shops, cool hairdressers,  inviting cafeterias. 

This area is close to the City, so during the lunchbreak all the cafeterias were full of trendy young solicitors, stockbrokers, bankers and other yuppies in black designers suits.
Very busy and lively area so if you want to have a snack of  fresh pies and pasties or maybe organic food, you will have to queue.
I hope this time I'll have more time to explore it  thoroughly and I'll try to get there on Sunday, when it is the busiest day according to this guide:
Sundays: Old Spitalfields Market stalls on Sundays are piled up with fabric; designers lay out their still-drying prints, T-shirts by fashion graduates are snapped up. Organic food, leather bags – fashion, food, furniture and much more spill over hundreds of stalls. This upsurge ripples out towards surrounding streets to create miles of East London markets.

I forgot to mention that Brick Lane is considered to be the curry capital of the UK as there are a lot of food/curry outlets in that street. 
There is a big Indian community in East End of London as a lot of Bengali people settled there, 
after they migrated to London to look for work. 
So I simply must have an Indian curry, (or maybe Chicken Tikka Masala, or any other Indian dish)
when I go there next month.

 The sign is in English and Bengali

An elderly Bangladeshi man in Brick Lane

Curry restaurants in Brick Lane

The same shopping areas would be recommended by many other young people.
But, mind you, if you really want to buy a trendy, normal outfit you will wear to work,
and if you are over 35, you should play safe and go shopping to Oxford Street.