Baby its cold outside….
- C
- Dec 16, 2018
- 3 min read
Our last visit to London was nearly twenty years ago and so we were super excited to see what had changed, and what had stayed the test of time. One thing we knew would be different was the weather with the BBC news promising tops of 3 degrees and the chance of snow!
Suitably rugged up we headed out on a crisp but clear London day to visit Camden market. All those years ago it had been a bit of a flea bitten, grungy affair, with nose ringed and heavily tattooed stall keepers selling bags of second hand Doc Martens. With some crazy notion that those sorts of bargains might still be around I had resisted buying any decent boots for this trip planning my homage to London being the purchase of some vintage Docs.
Turns out Camden market has somewhat gentrified over the years. Most of the stalls are now stores located in the architecturally refurbished old stables. Gone are the bargain bags and trestle tables, rather the vintage items are curated and showcased according to era and designer. The only Doc Martens I found were of the collectible variety with prices to match. That being said, it was still a cool market with lots of original and interesting stuff and some of the stores were still of the rummage around and find some hidden gems genre, one of which C was lucky enough to discover an amazing Harris Tweed coat.
After Camden market we took advantage of the still sunny day and took a walk up to Primrose Hill (which to be honest, I thought was the namesake of that Coldplay song but that turns out was Violet Hill, anyways…) an adorable part of London peaking with a huge park overlooking London and some instaworthy telephone booths.
Speaking of instaworthy we had dinner that evening at the Ivy in Chelsea which was brilliantly decked out in all things Christmas. The streets around London are everything we hoped for in terms of over the top Christmas decorations and lights making the ungodly hour of sunset (before 4pm wt??) a redeeming feature.
Day two and I having got my pop references in order we made an early start for Portobello Market in Notting Hill, the place of the Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts movie of the same name. Not being a huge fan of that movie, no photos of the key landmarks were taken although C did find some interesting street art around the place.
Lots of cool and quirky things to see at this market along with some great food. I had heard that a bakery on this road was world famous for its red velvet cupcakes, so when we stumbled upon the Hummingbird bakery we had to give it them a try. I couldn’t go past the gingerbread ones and C was more partial to the chocolate, so we can’t pass verdict on their signature cupcake but can say the ones we had were exceptional.
From Notting Hill to Soho Regent and Carnaby street, also sparkling with festive lights and Christmas cheer.
Carnaby was famous for reflecting the London culture of the day, from the “mod era” of the fifties into the “swinging sixties” where Tom Jones famously promoted a store opening by walking a cheetah down crowded road.
David Bowie and Marc Bolan famously shopped the dustbins along Carnaby to find their next stage wardrobe for that nights performance in a local dive bar long before either made their names and long before Ziggy Stardust or Aladdin Sane landed on earth.
The seventies saw Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones regulars and when the Sex Pistols took their iconic photo here Carnaby street’s DNA of all that is cool in London was indisputable. It was with high hopes that we came to see what was now and happening but while there is still a number of local and independent boutiques they are scattered between global behemoths like Nike and Levi shopfronts. It feels like the DNA of this iconic street is lost here although no doubt being revived in another yet to be unearthed off the radar place we may all read about in years to come; just like Carnaby was in the beginning.
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