Like Chinatown x 100 but Cooler

On the last day in London, and the last day of my European adventure, I saw what was quite possibly one of the coolest things of the trip.  Actually several very cool things.  Plus I FINALLY found the shoes I have been searching for for a very large number of days!

We began with a very long bus ride to Camden (where there is an extremely, exceptionally large market... but I'm getting ahead of myself).

As seen from the bus window

We also drove through Piccadilly Circus, which was like a VERY mini Times Square.  I share Moo Moo's curiosity in wondering who is it that said "in the midst of all of these quaint pretty buildings, lets put a huge obnoxious electronic billboard!!" And who is it that agreed with him.  It is kind of like London Eye (the ferris wheel) "I know, lets put a big ass ferris wheel in the middle of the city, and lets put it right on the water" "yeah, bloody great idea, mate!"

Whatever

We shopped around a little bit, and Ali bought a pair of Doc Martens from the original store in London from where Doc Martens were sold.  We also shopped around a little bit looking through all sorts of kiosks and various little shops.  

Ali in front of the Doc Marten store

Cool sign, but not nearly the main event.  

After we shopped for a little bit we stopped for some coffee and found a Camden Lock or Log or something like that.  It's kind of like a mini dam.  It was very pretty in any case, so we decided to walk along it.  Where we accidentally found ourselves in the middle of some music video.  

It was funny, we saw these people dressed peculiarly, and as we were commenting on how pretty the area was and how it felt as though we were in an alternate universe, throngs of people came running from the tunnel with a camera making a music video.  The video is promoting this strange hat called, wait for it.... Hanky Hat. 

After the filming people had cleared out this group of a shit ton of little kids on kayaks made their way along the river place.  Not 10 minutes prior it was pouring down rain.  

After our little surreal music/kayak adventure we found ourselves in the REAL Camden market.  It was crazy! It seemed to go on forever, like people started with some old tunnels and built and built until it was this huge sophisticated market that put Chinatown to shame.  They had everything.  Every culture, subculture, food, style, ethnic group, what have you was represented! 

It was called the Stables Market so there were these cool Horse sculptures everywhere.  It was really amazing.  I have never seen anything like it, and there is no way that these pictures do it justice.  This is only a small fraction of what could be seen.

At one point there was a variety, in a row over the course of just a few meters, of Brazilian, Thai, Mexican, French, Italian, Japanese, and Indian food.  There was also Moroccan food, and several Hooka bars as well as kinds of Chinese and other Asian foods that I didn't even recognize.

 I really think this whole place just grew and grew until it became this massive thing.  Apparently on Sundays it becomes so crowded that the nearby tube stations only allow people to get ON and not OFF to try and control the numbers of people in the area.

I really couldn't stop taking pictures.  I think I spent a good part of our time there with my mouth gaping open!

When we finally found our way out of the market and got outside, there was no indication of the organized chaos that was taking place inside the walls, spilling out into the streets on the other side!

Where the door is visible a little ways back in the picture is the exit we came out of.  

A hugely entertaining part of the day was a game Ali and I played.  I call it: Spy the ugly leggings-as-pants.  Leggings as pants, when not in one's own home or at the gym, are bad enough when they are black.  But we saw some things... things I will never be able to UN-see... and for your benefit I took several pictures, so you won't be able to un-see them either.  

The above images are leggings that are being sold.  The cheapest pair that we saw were  8 pounds.  That is like $13! They went up to 20 pounds! 

Please note the blue and black leggings that should not have left the theater stage paired with a hardly visible faux tiger fur jacket.  I do apologize that I could not get a better picture.  

These vertical zebra pants were unnervingly popular on todays streets.  

Today's sights also include neon green (on a man), peace signs, polka dots, leopard print, and many others.

It was all in all a very exciting and tiring day! And on the bus ride back to our apartment, we saw Westminster Abby up close and personal! It was a great way to end the trip!

Also, Mic and Sarah would like for me to clarify the picture I posted in a previous blog with them and Big Ben in the background:

Moo Moo and Ali got them the shirt (as seen on the left) and they posed, backwards, but you get the idea anyway!

Tomorrow I head home.  While I am slightly freaking out about the flight, I look forward to 36 straight hours of sleeping!