Camden

Today is day 2 of BEDIHT*, and the first phase of "Outings with FC" - we went to Camden for a spot of shopping and generally being tourist-y. I was going to take my camera to take some cool hipster photos (sarcasm), but I forgot.

Note to self - tomorrow, I am going to be a good blogger and actually remember to take my camera with me.

Random Stock Image

I caught the 12.44 train to London Euston, which I met FC on, and they we got going into Camden. I've been to Camden a number of times already, and I swear I enjoy it even more each time I go. It is honestly such a tourist location, but the further you go exploring around it, the better it gets.

Why it's such a tourist location:

1. The shops - they are all identical in Camden Lock!
1. There are literally so many of the same shops, which sell the same sort of merchandise, such as: 
1. Printed tee-shirts which say have very un-funny slogs on them such as "i-pood" or "addi-hash", along with some terrible quality hoodies and souvenirs with the Union Jack plastered across it, usually sold by an Asian man (not being racist, merely an observation).
2. Stretchers/plugs/tunnels and other body jewellery, sold by some foreign dude.
   
3. Printed floaty vests and off the shoulder tee-shirts of fruit and animals, being sold along with fob watch necklaces and dangly earrings by a Chinese lady.
4. Incense, tie-dye clothes, shisha bottles and "cocaine" lollipops & other legal highs sold by a man with dreads.
2. Probably the greatest tourist location in Camden is Cyberdog: a shop with blaring rave music, UV lighting and very cool dancers on a platform. Probably, less that 5% of the people who go in there actually buy their items of neon rave clothing, so that may be why all the other smaller nicknack's are so ridiculously prices, in order to cover its huge electricity bill.

1. The food stalls -  so obviously targeted towards the tourists. Most of them are Asian take aways, offering a variety of deep fried chicken, smothered in fluorescent sweet and sour sauce, and MSG. They offer free tasters by shouting at you through a microphone,  which usually taste deliciously addictive, so you end up buying a portion of the food. This usually tastes quite good, whilst you are eating it, but afterwards, you finally realise how salty and the amount of unidentifiable chemicals that were probably added to it, thus end up feeling rather nauseous. Well that's just my experience. 

1. The crowds - they are ridiculous! If you go on a weekend, like what I did, it is usually flooded with mainland European tourists. It can be quite squishy just coming out of Camden Town station, but having gone to night markets in Taiwan, I'm used to the squeeze!

Obviously, I don't mind that Camden Lock is pretty much a huge tourist destination - after all, the last few times that I have visited Camden, I have been a tourist! 

Why I like it so much:

1. It is a melting pot of so many sub-cultures, ethnicities, and styles. 
2. It is absolutely ginormous as the stalls seem never-ending.
3. Camden has some amazing vintage shops. 
1. I have really been loving vintage clothing and there really are some amazing shops, where you can get good quality, stylish apparel for decent prices. I bought a teal, oversized demin shirt for only £15 (even though it does smell rather funky, but nothing that a quick wash won't fix), but I really want to go back for some vintage Levi cut-offs, a really furry jumper and a farmer jacket. Looks like I'm going to have to come back again soon.  Also, all the people who worked there are seriously well-dressed and good looking.

In conclusion, I really do want to go to Camden again asap (maybe again in half term) so I can simply have some more time to have a good rummage through all the lovely vintage shops, as I have decided from this day forward, I am not going to buy anymore boring clothes. Moreover, I feel like I still haven't been to every single stall/shop there is there, as it is so big, so I want to get to know where all the good shops are.

If you want to go yourself, I advice you to on a week day where there will be not so many people, and also try not to be lured into the yummy foods - you'll regret it later!

Plus huge thanks for FC for being such an awesome person - we have such good organisational skills, since we planned this last night at 10.30pm.  Looking forward to phase 2 of our adventures; I wonder if there will be a nice old lady on the train next time.

So that's what I did today, what did you do?

Cheerio!


Rebecca x

P.S. Will start doing more fashion based posts soon, as I have literally been so inspired!
P.P.S. There are loads of other places I want to go in London for some more shopping: 

• Spitalfields Market
• Brick Lane
• Covent Garden
• Portabello Market

*Blog Every Day In Half Term