The Old Lady of the City

Apologies dear readers! I know I have been tardy in posting and responding to your comments and emails this month. The only excuse I have to offer is that my offline life has demanded a bit more of my attention lately - all for good stuff - and that kept me away, albeit unwillingly. This has been my longest absence from this blog since I started it 11 months back and believe me I have missed it and you all like nothing else!

But I didn't stop 'flaneur-ing', clicking and writing in all this time (I rarely ever do). I assure you that my tardiness has only been limited to sharing it all with you, and here I am, setting that right!

So what have I been up to? For starters, soaking in as much of the Christmas lights as possible - you didn't think I was kidding when I was worshipping light in the last post, did you? I cannot help but gravitate towards light in this cold dreary London winter.

Welcome to the old world charm of Leadenhall Market in the City of London.

Leadenhall Market is probably one of the oldest in the UK. Its origins (by virtue of its location, not the present physical form) can be traced back to - hold your breath - AD40! The market itself dates back to the 14th Century. Over the ages, it has taken several avatars under several rulers and periods and several reconstructions. It has gone from being a leather market to a cutlery market to the present day chic-apparel-cum-pub/cafe-hotspot. It was severely damaged in the Great fire of 1666 and rebuilt in the 1880s by Sir Horace Jones (prolific builder of markets around London at the time). The present building was last renovated completely in 1991 when the market was reopened for the general public in its modern avatar. But most of the old architectural detail has been conserved and enhanced further by the City of London council's sensitive urban design interventions.

I think it's a beautiful structure, made prettier by this year's Christmas lights.

I cannot help but think of the analogy of tasteful jewellery on a wrinkled but beautiful old lady who stands in stark contrast to the young 'uns around her, but outshines them with her old-worldly grace.

Coming up: A new series about a certain part of London that the urban designer/planner and history lover in me is completely in love with. Also, with this blog's first birthday coming up in January, there is a lot that is about to happen on this blog! :)

Colour and Serendipity on Portobello Road

Ever since I got back from Spain, I've been missing that raw richness of unabashed colour that assaulted and overhwelmed my senses there. To make matters worse, London is associated with 'grey' more often than with any other colour. Then I remembered Portobello Road. For nothing screams colour in London than this famous curving street lined with Victorian terraces, antiques dealers and funky boutiques. Set in the heart of Notting Hill (yes, the setting for that film), this street is an antique bargain hunter's delight. I did not visit on a Market Saturday, but I still came away with ample colour therapy to last me a while - along with a healthy dose of serendipity.

My blues and your reds - or vice versa?






Purple shoes against a purple wall. And blues to match.






Yellow above, yellow below. Colour me sunshine!






No honey, it's a blue awning.






Mauve. Candy purple. Muted Pink. Wait, what is that colour called?






Colour me Blue, I'm Lost in You






Merge into me






Electric, electric blue







Paint the town red as you go along...





Or take your pick!

All in an afternoon's work. Serendipity will find you, if you only know where to look!

More eccentricities from Portobello coming up - in my last London post to come for a while...

Postcards from Spain | The Markets and Signboards of Granada

Previous Postcards from Spain:
The Doors and Windows of Granada
The Streets and Alleys of Granada
People-Spotting in Granada

Hello Tuesday! I'm sending to you my view of the markets and signboards of Granada today.

I had quite an adventurous start to my visit when Iberia Airlines decided not to send our luggage on the same flight from Madrid as us, leaving us bereft of fresh clothes to change into. Iberia had assured us that we would get our bags delivered to us in Granada by that evening. But when our bags didn't arrive by 10PM, we rushed out in the rain to buy a few clothes to last us until the next day, at the least. We'd spotted the Albaicin markets earlier in the day, and we managed to find one last shop about to close. The shopkeeper did not know any English and our Spanish was limited to 'si' and 'gracias'. But we not only dealt with the guy in sign language, we even managed to get a nice bargain for the bunch of cheap hippy clothes we bought! Of course we were extremely chuffed and pleased with ourselves as we ran back to the hotel in the rain. Fresh, dry, cheap clothes had never seemed as precious and welcome as they did that day as we changed into them!

Our luggage arrived ten minutes later.


Enjoy your postcards for today!

Covent Garden Market: Of street performers, antiques and touristy hordes

One wouldn't normally associate Monday evenings with fun. But if you are in London and not inclined to giving into typical Monday blues (and are not too bothered by throngs of tourists), you could wander over to the Covent Garden Market, the colourful piazza where a market has existed since the 1600's.

click on pictures to enlarge

Since its history is so interesting, I'll touch upon it briefly here. If history is not your thing, you could skip straight to the pictures below. The Covent Garden Piazza hosted one of the most famous fruit and vegetable markets for over 300 years - from the 1660's (post the Great Fire) through to the 1970's - by which time, the market had grown into a shabby, congested nightmare. The greengrocers were moved to Nine Elms in Battersea (south London) and the market was closed down for a few years but reopened with great celebrations in the late 1970's. Over the years it has regained its original glamour and colour, although now it is known for its street performances, its central courtyard, its dedicated vendor markets (Apple and Jubilee) and the high profile lifestyle stores and pubs that outline the Piazza.

A large part of the architecture is still original, restored and added to at various times, in its long history. The central Piazza itself is the largely-original structure constructed in the 1630's by Inigo Jones.

When I walked in yesterday, I was struck by the sheer number of people there on a late Monday afternoon. There were lots of tourists, no doubt, but there were also a suprising number of Londoners around. (Recession?) Hordes were glued to street performances. On James Street, the main street that links the market to the Covent Garden Station was this Indian 'magician', whose glib humour was keeping everyone more entertained than his trickery. While I clicked away, he suddenly noticed me, stopped mid-sentence and gave me a 'pose', which shook the whole crowd with laughter (including me, which explains the camera shake).

There were other performances going on in the main square and in the central courtyard (which is reserved for classical music performances). I've heard that Covent Garden is the only licensed street performance area in London, but I'm not sure this is true, because I've seen street performances at the South Bank at other times.

And then there was the Antiques market, held every Monday in the Apple Market in the main hall. I'm not sure how many of these are real antiques but you could find a bargain here if you looked hard enough. It was so crowded that most of the time, tiny me and my big camera were jostled around and I could only manage a few un-blurred pictures.

Not everyone who was there was part of the shopping, eating, selling, performing frenzy though. I spotted some souls who had managed to create their own isolated islands in the middle of all the bustle about them.

By the time I got to Jubilee Market though, it was nearing 6PM and most of the stalls had wrapped up their wares. So now you know - if it's the antiques you're interested in, take the whole day off. No more bluesy Mondays, either way!