Shoreditch Calling!
With everyone looking at the Olympic Park and the huge transformation of the area of Stratford, the most exigent travellers have a new trendy area to complete their visit.
The East End, symbol of working-class culture, has become in recent years the trendiest area in London. The evolution began at the vanguardist Old Spitalfields Market; it was followed by the Bengalese area of Brick Lane and now it is time for Shoreditch, the last hit!
This phenomenon began in the late nineties when artists and creative people ran away from the West End due to the unaffordable rent and they started to relocate themselves in old warehouses used as a textile companies during the Industrial Revolution. This injection of fresh creatives meant that a wide range of new trendy clubs, galleries and restaurants emerged. The revolution also affected the areas nearby like Hackney and Bethnal Green.
What to do? Where to go? Well, grab a pen and take note.
If you are up to see a good gallery, definitely White Cube Gallery is your destination. The gallery hosted huge names in the past such as Damien Hirst.
If you are feeling like chilling out and having a good quality of food followed by some exclusive cocktails, Shoreditch has plenty of these establishments. Some of the most remarkable are Calooh Callay, with nice eccentric furniture; Eyre Brothers which serves one of London’s finest, authentic Iberian food and The Princess of Shoreditch would satisfy your expectations.
But, of course, Shoreditch has got quite a vibrant nightlife. The triangle formed by Shoreditch High Street, Old Street and Great Eastern St is full of pubs and clubs with the music tendencies veering towards Electronic, Indie and Pop music. Some of them are pretty recommendable: Kick Bar, The Book Club, Queen of Hoxton, Horse and Groom, Cargo and The Comedy Cafe are some of the most important ones.
And maybe the Shoreditch’s leitmotiv is its markets. The flower market located in Columbia Road is simply amazing; on Sunday the street is transformed into oasis of foliage and flowers. Everything from bedding plants to 10 foot banana trees are up for grabs. The offer is completed with the aforementioned Old Spitafields and Bricklane.
The Clash composed London Calling but now it’s time for Shoreditch Calling!
Enrique Quílez @quikequilez
