Well, the title sums up my Sunday. The morning started out with some rest from the two trips to castles on the previous days. I read a little bit, prepped my classes a little bit, and generally took things easy. Every now and then, the old body needs that. Still, I had plans to go to Camden Market with a colleague on the faculty here. After a bit of confusion in the communications setting it all up, we finally headed out for my first ever weekend trip to Camden Market.
Now let me explain Camden Market for those of you who may not be familiar with it. There is a section of London, known as Camden Town, that has become quite a bustling market area. It is open every day of the year except Christmas Day. This isn't like any market, with a handful of stalls selling a bunch of off-brand goods. No, this is several blocks of stores along with stalls out front, and even whole alleyways (some multi-level) filled with goods ranging from the eclectic to the mundane. On weekdays, it is like a busy stretch of merchandise stores with the crowd fairly light - at least light enough to walk around without bumping into people.
On weekends, especially this Sunday, it was like a shoulder-to-shoulder (and in one incident an elbow to my ribs while stepping on my foot!) carnival, a freak show, and a rock concert all mixed together with the sights, sounds, and smells of the multicultural megatropolis that London is. There were people dressed in ways that I literally could not have imagined. One shop keeper (woman) was sporting light orange hair, with clothing that looked like a banana split had designed it, and so many tattoos and piercings that it was difficult to tell where her clothing began and the tattoos took over. Oh yeah, she was one of the "normal" looking ones! Add to that the range of goods for sale, the social mixing of goths, freaks, nerds, and old geezers like me, it was a true melange of the London experience. In terms of what is for sale, consider some of the following. Of course there are tattoo shops and head shops, and there are clothing shops that range from top-end goods, and leather coats, pants, dresses, and items that I am not really sure what they are for, frilly things and sturdy things, sportswear, and evening wear, and everything in between, all the way down to t-shirts. I have to admit that one shop had t-shirts that had me laughing out loud at the irreverence of their humor (i.e. dirty joke after dirty joke). Then again, there were the classic "I ♥ London" kind of shirts and the souvenir trinkets that come to Camden to die or be sold at ridiculously low prices. There are one of a kind works of art, jewelry, cosmetics, hats, crafts, etc. Basically, I think that if you could imagine it, there is probably a place in Camden Market that would have it. I even saw a robot-looking thing made of old electronic items that was blaring music from an old CD player that was its head. We only covered about a quarter of what there was to see, and we spent a couple of hours browsing. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that there are also food stalls of an amazing number. In one stretch alone, we saw Moroccan, Mexican, Polish, Argentinian, Brazilian, and Indian food stalls, and probably others that I didn't identify, all next to each other adding their smells and the sounds of the sellers and buyers as well to the cacaphony of the music playing from every place.
It is kind of like taking a wild ride without leaving one's feet. It was a very good time, and it left me exhausted from sensory overload. I can't wait to go back next week!
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