Today was devoted almost entirely to the God of Shopping. All of us prayed at the altar of consumption and some of us left some fairly substantial offerings behind. It all started with a trip to Spitalfields Market a few blocks away in Shoreditch.
This place has gone through many incarnations over several hundred years and finally settled into a funky destination market where one can purchase almost anything.
Me: Is that Chucky?
Cockney Vendor: Is it wot?
Me: Chucky
Vendor: Chunky?
Me: The doll. Is it Chucky. Like from the Movie
Vendor: Wot you on about lufv?
Me: Forget it. Just wondered if the Doll has a name
Vendor: Not wot I know of lufv. Wouldn’t want to name that would you.
Me: Nope
Vendor: Do you want it then lufv?
Me: Oh no. Just thought it was a bit odd.
Vendor: you can hafv it for 20 quid
Me: Twenty for that you must be mad!
Vendor: Wot?
Me: Nothing. Have a nice day!
Much more to our liking were these Lucky’s fabulous little chocolate-covered cakes presented by the lovely Rosa from Espana. They are handmade in a little kitchen a few blocks away. Killer. I sampled a bunch then bought three.
Next to be found were some fabulous felted animals that were stuffed with wool and lavender, and sand bags. Loved the chickens, but they were a bit heavy for the suitcase.
There are some great stores, sorry “Shoppes”, around the outside of the market with some great finds including:
Fridge magnet battle bugs
and a London underground map shower curtain which I thought was funny as I have yet to see a shower with a curtain here in the UK as everyone seems to prefer to use these moveable glass walls that slide and swing as necessary from the edge of the bath to keep the water in.
We had a reviving cuppa and then left for the other side of town, and the other end of the spectrum, Harrods, with a stop at the Victoria and Albert Museum for lunch which, I might add, was fabulous.
Zoe and the world’s largest meringue. She loves these things. they make my teeth hurt just to think about them. And yes, she is wearing a raincoat as it was bloody miserable here all morning.
Thankfully after we finished lunch, the sun came out
Love this Courtyard at the V & A museum.
Not so crazy about this ‘fixture’ hanging in the entrance to the museum. It looks a bit like something Dr Seuss might come up with after a bad acid trip. Anyway. I am clearly not the curator at this museum and so what do I know about decorative arts.
Next was a walk down the road to Harrods
where I did not purchase this tea (which you are advised to drink without milk – whatever. If I’m paying 5000 pounds a kilo, I’ll put whatever I bloody well like in it thank you very much).
nor this horse
but I did buy these
Then it was back on the bus to the ‘hood where we had another delicious dinner in Brick Lane this time at Jungle Braii, which calls itself an African BBQ joint. Hmmm. Whatever. It was delicious.
The kids and I decided a walk was in order before retiring for the night so we went for a stroll down Whitechapel High Street where, to our delight, we discovered that while KFC itself is notably absent, there were many knockoffs:
Kinda Like Finger Licking Good but not quite….
Halal Fried Chicken!
Stands for Perfect Fried Chicken.
LFC for short…
Kinda like Kentucky Fried Chicken…but not.
And we are in London, so everything has to be Royal…
We have had a great time staying in the East End and I highly recommend it. There is a vibrancy and diversity here that isn’t always as visible in other more touristy areas of London.
Tomorrow we leave London for Wales. I feel like I need about another 10 days to get all the things done that I wanted to see but as my friend Lila says, she has lived here for 14 years and still hasn’t seen everything. So I guess I will have to come back. Maybe the weather will be better next time…
Thanks for reading-
Cheers,
Jane
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