Initially, I intended to just hit up Shoreditch and roam around the Box Park, a suggestion given to me by my roommate, unfortunately, the district and circle and district lines were down that day, meaning it had to take a longer route to get to East London. Instead of going straight to Shoreditch, Jerald and I decided to walk through Brick Lane which was on the way to Box Park.
Needless to say, we got really distracted at Brick Lane, and our supposed short afternoon excursion took up the entire day.
Brick Lane is such a unique and quirky place. There were so many cool vintage shops, markets selling all sorts of food, underground clothing markets with so many variety of clothes (think *scape-esque except bigger and edgier.) From second hand fur coats, vintage hats and dresses, leather bags, to quirky sunglasses, and cute knit sweaters. I was so tempted to buy something, many things in fact.
But I didn't.
I'm taking this saving-up-to-travel thing very seriously as you can see. Resisting all my inner desires to get more clothes.
The people who were hanging out in Brick Lane were dressed to express; unafraid to let their inner fashionista shine. I saw this girl who reminded me of a modern day Belle from Beauty and the Beast. She wore the most amazing midi, slightly-flared greenish-blue dress, an equally long dark oxblood coat, paired the look with dainty gold flats and had her hair up in a bun. Base on the description, you would think all the colours would have clashed dramatically. But they complemented her dark skin really well. I just stopped and stared as she hurried by before I could say "I love your outfit!"
I must say, the street seemed to have its own character, its own life.
I love how on one side you have young couples taking wedding photos, on another guys posing weirdly in front of a graffiti wall. You occasionally walk by some uninhibited areas / abandoned corners and you get to see teenagers having an amateur photo shoot in the area.
Brick Lane is definitely a place that fuels creativity, and is a place to go if one needs a little bit of inspiration.
After roaming around the vintage stalls in Brick Lane, we headed to Box Park, and were lucky enough to catch the sunset! After being here for a while, I realised that being able to see the different shades of pink orange and blue is pretty uncommon in London. With so many clouds and the almost-always-overcast sky, opportunities to see beautiful sunsets are minimum.
Box Park is a place where the stalls are set up in containers, and each stall had a # in front of its name. On the 2nd level, you have food varieties whilst on the ground level, stalls sell a mixture of hair, make-up and fashion items.
We came across a Champagne candle, and that is by far the BEST thing i've ever smelt. Unfortunately, we're not allowed to burn candles in my hall, plus i'm not about to spend 25 pounds on a candle.
Whilst roaming around the nearby areas of Box Park, we saw halloween decorations for the 31st of october. Entire wall spray painted just for that occasion, to suit the thematic atmosphere, to create an experience.
Colourful, Detailed, Artistic.
In the end, we spent more time roaming around Brick Lane than we did at the Box Park. East London sure is a fun place to be in for the weekend.
If anyone knows of other less touristy yet trendy and cool places I can visit in London, please let me know! :)
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