London Delights

Undercover shopping for everything you don't really need but really want...

Up very early this morning to go into London. The purpose of the trip was to go and see a very close family friend who after being admitted to hospital for emergency surgery has just been told by the doctors that the cancer he had been diagnosed with had returned once again.

Derren. He's not actually twisted,
but his shows are.

On my way into London I notice that Derren Brown is splattered all over the front cover of the Metro newspaper (the rag that most commuters read as it's free) as he is promoting his latest round of mystical mayhem. It was a bit eerie actually since there were so many papers with his face all over it, it felt a bit like being stuck in a Derren Brown labyrinth of terror... with his eyes watching your every move. If you know who Derren Brown is you will appreciate why this felt a bit weird for me! And as I was sat there I noticed this one particular paper which was crumpled in the just the right way which made Derren's face look very distorted, apt I thought for someone who twists the ordinary into the inexplicable. So I took a pic, one of my more arty moments, much to the suspicion of other people on the train who thought I was a freak.

Because I get into London very early I decide to leave it a couple of hours before going to the hospital so that I don't arrive so early as to be unsocial and so I head over to Covent Garden and have a look around to while away some time.

Covent Garden is a lovely place to sit and people watch, it is full of what I would consider true london characters as well as a wealth of tourists mooching around and taking in the sights. The things I appreciated the most were the following:-

You can't just set up shop here, you gotta stick to the rules!
Click for the full version.

The architecture of the building. Look up and you'll see what I mean, it's full of iron and rivets which reminded me a lot of Waterloo station. The building and surrounding area contains a lot of history and it was very easy to imagine what happened in the market many years ago. Most things there have an element of wear and tear which when combined with the renovated parts add to the overall feeling of historic adventure and excitement!

The next thing I noticed was the array of stores available to browse, there were all sorts of things to see and purchase provided you had sufficient funds! I think the best shop to give you that feeling of yester-year was the tobacconist, Segar and Snuff. It was almost as if I could see the Victoriana ghosts milling around. The shop frontage was truly delightful and it makes me even more angry that every UK high street is now exactly the same, bring back specialist privately owned shops and get rid of the multi-conglomerate dross!

Memories from when shopping was different

Another store that caught my eye was Ella's Bakehouse. This delectable tiny store was full of any kind of cupcake you can imagine, each and every one of them a perfect package of glitter, sparkle, sugar and sponge to make even the hardened dieter cave in and indulge. Luckily for me though, they were not open until 11 so I didn't have a chance to taste the cakes, but, no fear, I will be back to get some!

There was also a very interesting art gallery inside the market, but I can't for the life of me remember the name of it which is a real shame because there was a piece of art there that I really liked but couldn't see clearly enough to establish how much it was or who the artist was so I'm going to have to do a bit of digging to find out.

UPDATE! I found out. It was in fact the London Miles Gallery, and the piece of art I liked was by Jade Klara. I don't know why I like Lilith & Blob so much, or why Fat Bird caught my eye, but I really do like them. So much so I'm thinking of buying one just because.

After meandering around a lot I then start to make my way over to the hospital but not without stopping at The Bead Shop. When I get there I am happily filling my basket with everything I need for some half baked idea I'd come up with for a necklace I wanted to make but by the time I totted up the cost of everything I had to buy for it I decided that it would probably be cheaper to buy something instead!

Meet Lilith and Blob © Jade Klara

Which as it happens I could have easily achieved when I walked past Les Nereides, a French jewellery shop which a bit like the cup cake shop was full of nice eye candy! There were so many things I could have bought there the list is endless, but again it all comes down to money! But, what I can say is that I've found a shop Phil can shop for me in for many years to come!

After the distracting bling incident I make it to the hospital where my friend is staying and I have to say if there was ever an argument for private health care this was it. The place was like a 5 star hotel and has an excellent track record for the treatment of cancer patients so I was happily convinced that he was in the best place possible for his care. We had a lovely chat that lasted a couple of hours and I left behind a load of reading material and some playing cards to keep him occupied (though with internet access and flat screen TV I'm sure he'll be more than entertained. I guess all we have to do now is hope that the treatment plan they are devising works this time and things get back to normal. Like I said to my friend though, half the battle with cancer is your mental attitude towards it so we have to keep hopeful and positive that things will resolve themselves.

I have to say though the only thing wrong with the hospital was that it was perilously close to Harley Street, god darn it! If I'd have had 10K in my back pocket I might have popped in for a nip and a tuck, and a suck too actually. Probably more suck than tuck truth be told...

Want it, want it, don't really need it, want it, want it...

After my visit I then head on homeward bound. It's been a long day and I'm fit for nothing by the time I get home.

London is exhausting, I've no idea how people actually live there or why they'd want to live there. I think I can safely safe that it's a nice place to visit but not somewhere I would want to call home. I am too old, too antisocial and too agoraphobic to immerse myself in that sort of environment on a daily basis.

Signing off now. El Groucho.

Posted by Abi on the September 9, 2009 11:37 PM