Sunday in London’s East End

Starting off at London’s arty Spitalfields market, we wandered up and down, perusing the various stalls, each of which displayed hand crafted products such as vintage clothes, jewellery, ceramics, sheep cushions!  I thought about how different this would have been in the original days when this was a fruit and vegetable market and now it is one of the trendiest markets in London.

 

Moving on, one of our main reasons for coming to this part of town was to visit Denis Severs’ House on Folgate Street.  We joined a short queue outside the house and waited whilst they let people into the house in batches of around 6 - 8 people at a time.  Before we were allowed into the house, we were instructed to turn off our phones and put away our cameras.  We were told to tour the house in total silence and to be aware that real candles light the house so if we get too close we could catch fire.  

Denis Severs House

With the rules lecture finished, we were allowed in the house and immediately plunged into darkness as we were ushered into the basement.  The experience of the house is somewhat unusual.  It is described as a “still life drama” and is basically a serious of rooms over 4 floors which have been designed to portray how the house would have looked from 1724 to the dawn of the 20^th century.   The idea is to experience the sights, smells and sounds of the era and to give it the appearance of it being a “Time Capsule” – caught in a moment in time - examples include: beds with crumpled sheets that look like they have just been slept in, half eaten food and cups containing tea.  Amongst all of this we even came across a real live black cat – at least we think it was real! The top floor was the spookiest of all containing 2 very sad and dismal rooms in various states of dilapidation. As we left we giggled as a woman asked if she could sit down on a chair and the rather snobby guide replied “oh no madam, that is a 17^th century chair you know”.

It was a bit of a relief to get back out of this “time capsule” and into the real world and by now it was time to find somewhere for lunch.

Brick Lane

We found ourselves in Brick Lane which for those who don’t know it is a road full of curry restaurants.  Amazingly we found what was probably the only non-curry restaurant in the whole road which was a beautiful little Middle Eastern restaurant called: Damascu Bite.  I tucked into a lovely falafel platter all washed down with fresh mint tea.

Falafel lunch

Then it was off to explore the vibrant Brick Lane Sunday market which consists of more arty things, bric a brac and a fantastic food market.  I love the quirky bits such as the stunning street art and the man who has set up a coffee shop in his black London cab!

Street Art

Coffee Cab

After making our way out of the other end of Brick Lane, the streets became quieter as we wandered though the city area which is somewhat of a ghost town at weekends.

We stopped briefly at Madison’s rooftop terrace bar to admire the view especially the stunning view of St Paul’s Cathedral dome.

 

St Paul's Cathedral

Moving on we cross the once wobbly Millennium Bridge for more stunning views across the Thames of the iconic Shard Building and Tower Bridge in the distance. 

 

View over Thames:  Shard & Tower Bridge in distance

We have travelled to many countries of the world but London remains one of our favourite all time places and somewhere we will never tire of discovering.

Today’s adventure was made all the more fun by sharing it with our good friends Lynda and Charles.