London Bridge is Falling Down! (Day 7)

Ah, Sunday. What should be an entirely relaxing day just might end up that way. This was Marty’s last free day to roam as we pleased, so we decided to head up to Camden Town and visit the quite infamous market there.







It turned out that the entire town was like a big market, with many of the booths and stores selling the same crap for different prices. Apparently Kate Moss is a big fan of the markets here. Part of Camden Town burnt in a fire recently and so that part was shut down, but that didn’t stop the revelers from coming in droves. We wandered from the Electric Ballroom market to the Inverness market to the jam-packed together Camden Main market.





Marty was on the lookout for a specific band’s t-shirt while we were in London, and he believed that he may find it in Camden. Upon peeking around the corner into one shop, he was immediately confronted by a wiry little man in leather pants. The man invited him into the dark dungeon of a shop, through packages of plastic capes, ratty jeans, and vinyl jackets to the back of a shop where, in a box on the floor, the t-shirt might exist. A lady in a shiny vinyl coat rummaged through it and produced the t-shirt and handed it to Marty. Upon seeing the graphics on the shirt (read: dildos..yikes), he promptly tried to put it back in the box. The wiry little man immediately asked him what he was doing as it was exactly what he asked for, and it was an official band t-shirt. Marty explained he wouldn’t wear a shirt with that particular graphic and the man protested that he should buy it because it is the band he likes and it doesn’t matter what the shirt looks like. Um, right. He just thrust it back at the little man and we busted out of there as fast as we could, with the little man cursing us all the way out. Awkward. Sooo awkward.
We had a similar experience at the market with a man who was selling jacket I laid eyes on. After guessing I was Norweigan, Sweedish, Icelandic and Finnish (he insisted I was Scandinavian), I told him I was Canadian, to which he replied was much cooler (trying to make a sale, clearly.) He grabbed the jacket and immediately stuffed me into it. After telling me it was £45 ($90!) I said no way. It didn’t even come with the belt for it (he said you have to buy a belt separately!). I offered £10 ($20) and he became very displeased with me and told me to go to a mental hospital. He also said he charges that much just for looking. He then asked me, “Why are you looking if you don’t want to buy it!?” Awkward again. What is up with these people? I can’t lay my eyes on a jacket. Again, we busted away with the guy cursing behind us.

By this time, I was ready to head out of little Camden Town. We headed north, over the canal to the Underground station.




”Real” Camden punks who screamed profanities at people who tried to take their picture. That’s why I could only take one from behind them.



We headed down to London Bridge and the area we visited yesterday , the Tower of London. We decided that an actual walk over London Bridge was necessary to complete our trip. And what an unremarkable journey it was.






Tower Bridge (the bridge often mistaken for London Bridge) from London Bridge.




London Bridge better not be falling down because we are underneath it.


This bridge deserves no song. This also, is not the original bridge. London Bridge has been around for about 2,000 years in some form or another. The first bridge across the Thames in the London area was built of wood by the Romans on the present site around 50 AD. Just a bit of history for you.


Of course, Tower Bridge is cooler, and we decided to hike across that one as well.


The gurkin…again.


The Tower of London…again.










The Tower Bridge Plaza on the south bank of the bridge.


London City Hall



After wandering for a while, dinner time arrived and LIzzy and Robin had graciously invited us over to have toad-in-the-hole! (I think it is Robin’s specialty.)



After a very nice evening, we headed back to Penge. Sleep is required, of course, because tomorrow is a very full day – we take on (or over, depending how you look at it) Windsor, Stonehenge, and the Roman town of Bath. Does that sound interesting? Well, it was. See you then.