London Finale

On my last day in London, I tried to do some touristy things like going to see Big Ben and the Parliament building, but my heart wasn't in it. I took some half hearted photos, then decided to take a train over to one of the outdoor markets in London. Spitalfields Market, in the East End, had the wares I was looking for, but to my surprise, an Indian festival was occurring on neighboring Brick Lane.

Hundreds of people (maybe thousands?) packed the narrow Brick Lane for a curry festival, and what appeared to be general browsing, shopping, and walking like herded cattle.
I held my camera high and took a picture of the crowd walking underneath one of London's oldest establishments, Truman Brewery.

However, to be less conspicuous, I tried "shooting from the hip." I shot dozens of pictures with my camera strap around my neck and the camera body at my torso, finger on the shutter. No one seemed to notice that their pictures were being taken. What I discovered was that although this vantage point gives a unique perspective, getting good pictures is very difficult! This was the only one that I was remotely happy with. I like this style though. You don't know what kind of shot you have until you're back home...a little bit of a surprise in the digital age.

The other advantage is being able to get a table eye view of dinner without disturbing any of the patrons. A perfect weekend evening: family, curry, and beer.

The disorganized flea market was kinda cool though...most of what I saw was junk, but I did spot a vintage Brooks saddle in relatively good shape. Was it stolen? Maybe. I didn't ask how much. I also found a set of darts that must have been over 30 years old, complete with English flag feathers. These I bought for 2 quid.

A closed off section revealed a more organized flea market. Note the bike shop! Here, because there was less of a crowd, I was boldly taking pictures of people and booths. I crossed the street to a similar sectioned flea market and spotted another bike shop, so I started taking pictures again.

I must have wandered into a bad part of town. See the guy with the vertical stripes? He's buddies with the guy who owns the bike shop, apparently. Once he saw me, or once he saw my camera, more likely, he announced in a loud voice, "HEY! NO PICTURES HERE!" and to his buddy, "HEY, THIS GUY TOOK YOUR PICTURE!" The two approached me, and I should have ran. Vertical stripes points to his friend and points to me and says that I can't take any pictures of him. He's acting paranoid. I tell him that I'm going to erase them. The moment was quickly getting hectic. I showed for a quick second how I erased the picture, but vertical stripes wasn't convinced. He wanted to see for himself, motioning for me to hand the camera over, "NO LET ME SEE IT MAN, GIVE IT TO ME, NO PICTURES HERE." I frantically erased one more picture, when out of nowhere, this big african guy approaches me from behind and says in a thick accent, "Yeah no pictures here," but in that moment, he allowed me an escape because he blocked off vertical stripes' friend. I turned and sprinted past the new guy, vertical stripes reached for my arm, grabbed it, but I twisted free, and ran at a full sprint back to the Brick Lane crowd. My heart was pounding, adrenaline on full release.

Back to Spitalfields Market. Though only a few blocks away, this area is much more gentrified, and the market catered to the middle to middle-upper class and tourists. Sadly, with camera bling around my neck, perhaps its safest in these parts of town.

Though most of the market featured clothing, jewelry, and original art, a good portion of the market was reserved for food vendors.

I walked around nibbling on pastries and cheeses until I found the most delicious and unique cured sausages. Oh MY! I've never had salami like this! Spicy, sweet, lean, fatty, pork and wild boar! I promptly bought 30 pounds worth (that's 60 bucks in cured meats) for all my friends back home. Later, like the true patriot that I am (no, like a fuc#ing idiot) I declared these items upon arrival into the United States. I hope I made some customs agent's day.

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I took some photos of other places in London that day....