Every so often I re-fall in love with East London. Today was one of those occasions. My friend Liesbet was here, and I decided to take her to Spittalfield Markets for brunch at LUXE. Good food, good coffee, and fantastic people watching. The shops around the market are generally pretty cool, I especially love the florists with the beautiful bouquets that I cannot afford. There is also a pretty funky hairdresser. The SM Barbie dolls in the pic were in its window. Only in the East end... From Spitalfields it's a short walk to Brick Lane. Turn right and you will have to fight off a gazzillion Bangladeshi restaurant-staff trying to lure you in. Turn left and you will find loads of street food, cool market stalls, and loads of vintage shops. Actually, don't turn into Brick Lane straight away. First there is Nude Espresso, serving one of the best brews in London (staff fully dressed...). From Brick Lane we wandered (well...speedwalked) to Columbia Road as I wanted to buy flowers just before the market closed. On a beautiful spring day like this it's ridiculously busy, but fun nonetheless. Three bunches of flowers for a tenner brought spring into my flat. As we walked a million kilometers yesterday, we then took a bus home, through Shoreditch High Street. I was still too full to consider tea, or I would have taken Liesbet to Pizza East, a good New York style pizza place in the Tea Building. The things listed above could be anywhere. But what makes the East End so special is its variety of people. Once the Jewish part of London, it is now the home of many Bengali and hipsters. Especially Brick Lane and Columbia Road are fantastic for people watching: it's where all the cool Londoners seem to hang out on Sunday afternoons. And between the Alexa and Russell look-a-likes, you find the stalls handing out leaflets on Islam, and grey men with kufis. A good mixture.
Sunday, 27 March 2011
East London FTW
Every so often I re-fall in love with East London. Today was one of those occasions. My friend Liesbet was here, and I decided to take her to Spittalfield Markets for brunch at LUXE. Good food, good coffee, and fantastic people watching. The shops around the market are generally pretty cool, I especially love the florists with the beautiful bouquets that I cannot afford. There is also a pretty funky hairdresser. The SM Barbie dolls in the pic were in its window. Only in the East end... From Spitalfields it's a short walk to Brick Lane. Turn right and you will have to fight off a gazzillion Bangladeshi restaurant-staff trying to lure you in. Turn left and you will find loads of street food, cool market stalls, and loads of vintage shops. Actually, don't turn into Brick Lane straight away. First there is Nude Espresso, serving one of the best brews in London (staff fully dressed...). From Brick Lane we wandered (well...speedwalked) to Columbia Road as I wanted to buy flowers just before the market closed. On a beautiful spring day like this it's ridiculously busy, but fun nonetheless. Three bunches of flowers for a tenner brought spring into my flat. As we walked a million kilometers yesterday, we then took a bus home, through Shoreditch High Street. I was still too full to consider tea, or I would have taken Liesbet to Pizza East, a good New York style pizza place in the Tea Building. The things listed above could be anywhere. But what makes the East End so special is its variety of people. Once the Jewish part of London, it is now the home of many Bengali and hipsters. Especially Brick Lane and Columbia Road are fantastic for people watching: it's where all the cool Londoners seem to hang out on Sunday afternoons. And between the Alexa and Russell look-a-likes, you find the stalls handing out leaflets on Islam, and grey men with kufis. A good mixture.
Friday, 25 March 2011
Sword of Damocles
"We really didn't think you'd come back", several Dutch colleagues told me in recent conversations. Whoever betted that I would, should be a rich man soon. Next week April will be upon us. And with April, my last three months in London. The 'one more year' was fine. The 'six more months' bearable. But the daunting thought I have only three months left in this city that is more home to me than any other has ever been....it's tough. Yes I will be back heaps of time, made easier by the fact I'll have every other Friday off as of July. But I will so miss the mixture of people, the friendliness, the buildings, the restaurants, the Sunday papers, the gym, the supermarkets, even the commute! Back to massive traffic jams, supermarkets not unsimilar to your local 7-11, rudeness and miserable service in very average restaurants and an utter lack of cricket and rugby convo. I know it also means back to friends and family. And there are of course decent places to eat in Amsterdam. And the canals are pretty. And maybe the supermarkets have improved. But the closer I get to the end of June, the more certain I am my move back home will be a temporary one. Let's see what I will call home in a few years' time. Melbs? London? Or will something happen that makes me want to stay in the Dam? Time will tell.
Friday, 18 March 2011
Ruggers in Cardiff
Mary and I went to Cardiff last week to watch Ireland play Wales. We didn't get the result we wanted, but what a fantastic day. The Millennium Stadium is spectacular and the fans of both teams are just the best. The bloke in the picture is an Irishman, fresh of the boat to County Clapham. He decided to marry Mary there and then. Something to do with her relos having road facing land...
I wrote a blog for a Dutch sports blog - in Dutch. Sorry non-Dutchies, too lazy to translate!
Sunday, 6 March 2011
Brixton
There's no need to leave London every time I want to explore something different. Since friend Zoe moved to Brixton, it's become one of my favourite places to feel like being abroad. The indoor markets are full of exotic products: African fabrics, many types of yams, small colourful peppers, you name it. The butchers sell parts of animals I have only ever seen at African or Asian markets. One of them tried to tempt us into buying a bag of pigs' feet. 'Just a quid dear!'. A google search tells me it's very good for your skin but I think I'll stick to avoiding fags and relying on Chanel to make me look 27 (ahum). One of the nicest things of the market, are all the little cafes. The one selling sourdough pizza is apparently very famous, and the queue must have been at least an hour. We settled for a Colombian place where we ordered the 'Saturday lunch'. Once we were eating, we noticed we were pretty much the only non-Southamericans there. Always a good sign. Our soup of corn, chicken and potato was absolutely delicious. And I'd go back for the juices alone. My soursop was wonderfully sweet and sour at the same time, and Zoe's passionfruit a jug of deliciousness. One to remember!
Saturday, 5 March 2011
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