[This will be edited with photos tomorrow at some point, just want to throw the text up and finish it with this spare time.]
Changing hostels to one in Willesden Green, a short walk from the tube station along the Jubilee line that has had technical problems 2 out of 2 days I’ve been here, seemed to coincide with a slight switch in mood.
Where there was once a kind of jubilant excitement preceding each day, these feelings seemed to have lost their foothold and been replaced by more of a passive indifference and pangs of homesickness. I imagine this is the natural step which someone studying abroad goes through, but I can’t help feeling a bit like I’ve failed to fully embrace the experience.
To counteract these unwanted feelings, the daily planning for my London trip also has taken a turn. Instead of trekking around the city at high speeds, exhaustingly cramming all I possible can into each day, things are going slower now. I attended the Imperial War Museum, for instance, and stayed not a minute longer than necessary. I absolutely love that all of London’s museums have quite a bit of free content to peruse, and so I felt guilt free taking off after inspecting the marvelous “Secret War” exhibit featuring real-world MI5 and MI6 information, passports, weapons, and gadgets from WWI/WWII/Cold War and the Gulf War. It was fascinating.
The Jubilee line being down meant no Abbey Road today, and so I settled on searching out Gosh! Comics, a store I hadn’t visited since living in London in Middle School. They’d relocated, and a quick google search told me they were now in Soho. Soho in the daytime seemed like a crosswalk between the Picadilly/Leicester Square area and Oxford Circus, but upon walking through tonight it was alive with people at the pubs and shops. Here in London, it is totally ok to stand outside of a bar in mass groups and chat with a pint/drink, no one seems to fuss about alcohol in ‘public’ at all. Brilliant.
The first introduction to Soho I received after locating the street Gosh! was on were not 1 but 4 different sex shops; videos, toys, lingerie, emporium. The street was narrow, pedestrian, and each shop seemed to come with its very own odd-looking fellow standing on the stoop and looking at the passers-by. Fine, I thought, I didn’t have any intention of pushing past these gentlemen to browse the wares anyway.
Gosh!’s window had a giant knitted squid, part of some London art-everywhere style event that, according to the photos, included loads of different knitted items sprawled over, attached to, or hung on common monuments around the city. I don’t remember the shop being nearly so trendy, but it was bursting with people of all sorts. Of course there were your typical comic readers, but also the more smartly dressed examining the plethora of graphic novels, art mags, and zines that make up the first floor. The basement is still reserved for new comics and back issues, but wasn’t nearly as populated. I grabbed a Punisher MAX and the latest issue of Scalped (Both really good, you must go and buy them right now) before heading out. I desperately wanted to chat about the store with one of the guys, but I was checked out by someone new and so didn’t bother asking about the move to the new location.
Forbidden...
I stopped at a Café called Costa (read my thoughts on this particular one below) and worked on my novel over some coffee before heading out again in search of a big store. I’m looking for a very particular (being cryptic for reasons) item that I haven’t been able to find yet, despite quite a lot of searching. It’s harder still when Google Maps indicates a location that doesn’t actually exist. For such a cool service, they sure do mess with me sometimes. No worries, I ended up walking most of the way to Forbidden Planet, perhaps the single greatest nerdy store in the existence of Earth. They’ve got vinyl toys, action figures, exclusive busts and comics from comic and film conventions, not to mention a bookstore and comic shop all crammed into 2 floors of pure glee (not the show. I’m sure singing isn’t allowed).
If you’re looking for used books, Smith Family style, then get yourself to Charing Cross Rd just past Leicester Sq. I made a couple purchase, one of which I had heard about (Dean Koontz always seems to do good stuff), and another I picked up merely on impulse. The pound-to-dollar conversion still makes these books more than they’d be in second hand shops back home, but the 2.50 pricetags were not even close to the 12 or 15 I’d be spending at a place like Waterstones.
Another kind of London...
Camden Town station puts you right in the middle of the main shopping district of Camden. Gone are the designer stores, the Marks & Spencers et all, giving way to a different manner of business. Saturday, despite the rain, Camden was incredibly busy and all the shops seemed to be full. There are stores as well as a plethora of stalls forming a kind of labyrinthine network of London/England-tourist clothing, novelty tees like you might find at Hot Topic, or more independent handmade/screen-printed fare. I even stumbled upon a couple art shops with some really fantastic original work.
Camden is also the spot if you want to get some cheaper eats, especially if (and I was) you’re craving Mexican or Thai food. There’s even bar seating made out of old scooters repainted (and missing the handlebars/front). The whole atmosphere is a lot of fun, and getting lost among the goods can eat up at the very least a couple hours (and a decent chunk of cash too, if you’re not careful). The visit almost made up for Arsenal getting thrashed earlier. Even took care of some gift shopping!
Brick Lane is also a similar style to Camden, though there was a fair bit more vintage clothing and graffiti around this district. As such, I walked around only half looking at the stalls and instead turning my attention to the walls, overhangs, and doorways for any kind of street art to photograph. I snapped a few, and discovered a couple of interesting galleries; StolenSpace Gallery and the Print Club London which sold some really awesome prints for about 40 pounds each unframed. Had I lived in London, I certainly would have gone to the print club to decorate my flat with some interesting work but it was a bit high for something that might get trashed in transit back to the states so I skipped out just barely avoiding dropping some serious cash.
Perhaps the most interesting stall I found while in Brick Lane was one selling vintage toys, clothing, and a wide array of old gas masks from all over Europe. I guess you have to buy them somewhere, though I certainly wouldn’t want to drop 20-30 pounds on something that no longer serves its intended function. Although…
There was also a music festival going on Sunday, and I was attracted by the bass heavy reggae only to learn it (of course) cost money to get in and so I skipped out and finished my day with a good long skype session. Now off to Norwich, here are just a couple tips to share;
Few tips...
Cravings: If you need some coffee and want to pop open your laptop for a little bit of internet while you get your fix, I have to recommend Café Nero. Similar-styled Pret a Manger and Costa offer roughly the same thing, but Costa’s wifi is not free, and Pret’s is quite fussy. I never had an issue at Nero.
Beware: The Jubilee line, on which Willesden Green and my hostel were located, is perhaps the worst line in the history of the London Tube. Out of the 4 nights I stayed there, 5/5 days saw the Jubliee having technical difficulties and partial closing. When booking a spot to sleep, try not to do it on this temperamental transport.
Sleepy: Both the Astor Hyde Park and the Palmer’s Lodge are both good hostels that offer two different experiences. If you’re looking for something young, loud, and close to everything then Hyde Park is your thing. However, if you want to get more sleep in a darker room with less people, you’ll have to sacrifice a bit of distance and convenience for the nice facilities and on-site bar of Palmer’s. I think at this point I’d rather stay at Astor thanks to the ease of navigation.
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