I love Camden market!

Sunday was a fun day, thanks to Donald :).  Donald is a jewelry buyer - basically he travels all over Europe to find vintage costume jewelry for his clients, who then sell it on to the general public.  Anyway, he had gotten it into his head that he wanted to go to Battersea market to check out the wares, and also to go to Camden Town.  He told me about this plan on Friday and, since I had nothing better to do and had always wanted to go to Camden market, I decided to tag along!

To begin with, the weather was absolutely gorgeous - perfect London weather.  I'm talking about sunny, warm but not hot, breezy....perfect!  I started the day sat outside Sloane Square station, basking in the sun as I waited for Donald to come pick me up.  After managing to walk in circles around each other ("Where are you?"  "I'm here on the side street.  Where are you?"  "In front of the station, but I'm coming. [5 mins later]  I don't see you, where are you?"  "In front of the station!  Where are you?" etc...), we finally found each other and drove over to Battersea.

Unfortunately for us, the good weather meant that everyone had come out to the market in force.  It took us forever to find a parking space down one of the streets alongside the market, then another good chunk of time to get Donald's car parked well (the space was rather small and Donald's car is rather big!).  When we got through the gates of the market, we found that the place was an absolute zoo :).  The sellers had come out by the hordes because of the weather and, consequently, the tables were packed so close together that it was difficult to get past if even one person stopped to look at what was on sale.  I didn't mind too much though - that only meant there was more stuff to look at!  And what an absolute mass of stuff!!!

You know that saying, "one man's junk is another man's treasure"?  That definitely came to mind as we made our ways through the tables :).  There were some really interesting things, some really beautiful things, some really ugly things, and some really...strange things.  lol.  We had loads of fun walking up and down the aisles as Donald cherry-picked the items he thought his clients would like, and it was nearly 2 hours later by the time we finally got out of there and drove up to Camden market.

Now, Camden market was DEFINITELY the highlight of the day.  This is the quintessential market - huge, bustling, full of insanely cool and pretty things, and all prices (slightly) negotiable.  For a shopaholic like me, it's an absolute paradise :).

What was surprising was that some parts of the market were really pretty too.  We entered through an entrance that took us over a lovely little bridge over a canal, and we found ourselves in a small food area that's clustered on its banks.  After drooling over all the food that was emitting mouth-watering aromas all around us, Donald and I bought crepes from a stall (apple and cinnamon for me, banana and sugar for him) and ate them standing propped up against the rails of the bridge.  Then it was time for shopping, shopping, and more shopping!  I didn't actually buy anything (Donald was on a mission for a black jacket and so we didn't really stop at the stalls I was interested in - jewelry, shoes, knick-knacks, etc.), but it was still fun to look and convinced me that the next time I need to buy a present, I'm going to go buy it at Camden market!

We ended the day with a drive across the Thames over Blackfriars Bridge, the sun setting behind a backdrop of St Paul's Cathedral and Tower Bridge to our left, and the London Eye and Houses of Parliament to our right.  A huge bowl of noodles for dinner and a chat with the friendly couple sitting at the next table over later, and the day was over :).  

Another fantastic London memory to file away!