Camden Market

"The first time I heard about Camden market was when  Lauren and I talked about  Borough market. Borough market is more about fresh produce and ready to eat food. Camden is food truck kinda style and all kinds of stalls selling souvenir, clothes, gothic costumes, shoes and so on. She bought a coat there and it was reasonably priced. That was my destination on Saturday. Starting on Thursday, the weather wasn't that great. Cold, rainy, windy. I checked Saturday weather and it would be like that. Probably it was not the best time to walk around in the open market but I was pretty determined to go. I asked Jessica to go with me. Lauren is out of town. I would've asked her too otherwise. Jessica had a hard time getting out of bed because of her work's happy hour the night before. I wasn't in hurry because it was kinda cloudy anyway. But as soon as the sun was out, I told her to get herself out of the bed and meet me at the market. She agreed. To go to Camden from my place is difficult by tube. I had to take a transfer even though it wasn't far at all. I braved myself to take the bus. I used city mapper app that Amy told me. Bus #27 would take me from Marylebone street to right in front of Camden Market.

I was nervous that I would miss the stop but actually there was a monitor inside the bus that tells you the name of each stop. Driving to here is highly discouraged because of the traffic.

Since the market is huge and has different parts, I told Jessica to meet me below this Stables sign at 1PM. I knew about this sign from Google images. Even though I had never been there, I didn't think it would be difficult to find this giant sign.

My bus actually dropped me off across the street from this sign. Awesome! I got there early so I walked around. The market was like a zoo but I loved it. A lot of small stalls. I walked in to the first store and this was what I saw.

Can it be more London than this?

Perfect place to buy souvenir. Cheap postcards, fridge magnets, cheesy Tshirts, key chains and anything that has  Union Jack on it. The seller are eager to get you buy their stuff. I know I have to bargain if I want to get something from this place. I found a stall that sells coats (this is one of many that sells coats and it seems they all have the supplier). I like it, it fits well but it doesn't have a hood, and I really want to find one with a hood. London's drizzly rain is perfect for a hood. It doesn't rain hard enough to use an umbrella. The guy told me that it was 50 pounds. I asked if he could give me a better price than that. He said how much. I just gave him a ball park, 40 pounds. He said okay. I was surprised I didn't really to buy it now, so I said to him I would think about it and come back after I met up with my friend. 

The giant metal board tells you the history of camden market. This is also where Amy Winehouse used to hang out in her early days. This place used to be a horse stable. The horse stalls are now stores.

At 1PM, I went back to the Stables sign and met Jessica there and we ventured out for food. I had Thai food. It's £4 for a small tin container. Pretty good deal. You can mix and match whatever you want. I was eyeing on the chili relish, you could add all kind of sauces you want. Thai chili hit the spot. We sat along the canal. They also have old Vespas or motorcycles along the canal for people to sit on.

We couldn't find a place to sit, so we sat on the sidewalk along a canal.

After lunch, we walked around the market and found more food. I was hungry for sweets and saw these.

They were Dutch little puffed pancakes with Nutella on top. I grew up eating Nutella. Taste like my childhood. Just like in Borough market, they also sell Paella cooked at the spot in a giant pan. 

Walking around here made me realized that Borough market is so overpriced. 

I'm saving the Paella for the next visit. I'll be back!