NEWS
EVENTS
Funky Fun at Camden
Other | Thursday 27th September 2012 | Shavy
Camden is an open-air and indoor market with its distinctive flavour. To enjoy its essence, read on.
The day I came to London I went to every known place, London Eye, London Bridge, Buckingham Palace and many others. These are the most popular places in London.
Where else can I go? I did not think further.
As the time went further, I got settled in London and met new people. They started mentioning about Camden Town. They always used to say that it is a totally different face of London and ‘I will turn mad’ when I will visit Camden. Seriously I will turn mad? I doubted.
But my curious heart could not stop intriguing me and eventually one day, I landed in Camden. Hahaha! Yes this was my first reaction as I could not stop laughing. The place was so crowded, people were shouting like others were deaf. So many shops! I should tell you, you cannot go through this market in one day if you like enjoy everything at leisure. This market has more than 700 shops and stalls in total.
The place had different shades of colour. How? There were colourful stalls, clothes hanging outside shops. Most of the people in the town were wearing colourful dresses, even their hair were coloured. Of course not black, brown, golden but they were pink, green, red and blue.
If you want to shop around (actually you would not be able to hold yourself) be patient and look at different shops and shopkeepers do bargain. If you haven’t learnt the skills to bargain, learn it before you visit this place. It will help you save some money. I am not lying, I am serious.
I went almost at every shop. I observed that this market has shops, displaying items from different culture, art as well as fashion. There are so many beautiful and unusual things with which you can decorate your house. Candles, lanterns, lights, showpieces, antique mirror, chair tables, wind chimes, and wall hangings. Oh I cannot remember everything now. Moreover, I don’t want to spoil your fun.
What next? The best part is yet to come. Food stalls! Oh my god! I literally stuffed myself with food, trying so many different cuisines. Camden offers a huge choice of hot and cold food from mini-kitchens, serving food from almost all the countries under the sun. I love food and Yes! I literally turned mad with the aroma of food. Every stall offers you their dishes to taste. I cannot forget that Japanese stall where a man was speaking in his robotic voice, trying to attract customers and he made me laugh. He offered me ‘bang bang chicken’. I had never heard of it. At first, I resisted myself to try it but when he forced I could not help. Can you believe it, it was so delicious that I ended up buying ‘bang bang chicken’? Later I roamed around trying different food on my way to different stalls.
There is a river on the side of food market. I didn’t it like because it was not clean but you can also try their boat trip with your partner, enjoying the sun and just relaxing.
Later, I entered Stables Market, which is there since 1884. It was fabulous. This whole area has been adorned with massive bronze sculptures evoking memories of the past when area was used for both to stable horses that pulled the barges along the nearby canal and as a location for warehousing and light industrial activities associated with canal transport. This is where I saw so many beautiful shops of different cultures and vintage clothing. This town also has some Halloween shops- weird clothing, masks, hats; everything unexpected could be easily found over here. You can get temporary or permanent tattoos, henna designing, piercing and you can also try some tarot and palm reading for your luck. I would suggest it is worth trying. This will also excite you.
At the end of these entire round up and clicking pictures, I had fresh juice available at the end of stables market (a large bottle just for £ 2). It was so refreshing and soothing. Market closes at 6 pm so I had to come back. It was indeed worth exploring. My most fantastic experience in London!
Get ready then. You cannot miss out the fun if you haven’t been there or if you have been there take your friends out there just to have another fun filled day. Do not forget your camera; do not forget to carry cash (your debit/ credit cards won’t be accepted)! Camden Town is easily visible on the tube map, follow the northern line and alight at Camden Town.
Have fun!
By Shavy Malhotra
