Monday 13 July 2009

First Weekend in London

I cannot begin to describe how fascinated I am with the city of London. I feel like I have
experienced so much already and its only our forth day here and we haven’t even gone on our first class outing yet!
On Saturday, after recovering from a nasty case of jet lag, I embarked on my first London away tour. I was signed up for a literary pub walk, and it was fantastic. We went by several well know pubs along Fleet Street on the north bank of the Thames river. Some of the visited places included the Punch Tavern at 99 Fleet Street, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese at 145 Fleet Street (a 17th century pub which welcomed the likes of Dr. Johnson, James Boswell, Voltaire, Thackeray and Charles Dickens), and my personal favorite, the Black Friar at 174 Queen Victoria Street. This Pub was built in 1875 and is absolutely beautiful both inside and out.
On Sunday, we went to the Camden Markets. I have never been in a more crowded place. But it was captivating non the less. Camden Town overflows with a variety of colourful markets, shops, restaurants, bars, pubs, clubs, theatres and cinemas and attracts huge crowds of Londoners and
tourists alike. The Camden Lock Market, by the canal, was originally a craft market, established in 1974, but now has a much wider spectrum of goods on sale. My personal favorite was the Camden Stables Market which has a total of around 500 shops and stalls. The market once housed a listed Horse Hospital, formerly used to care for horses injured pulling canal barges. Its cobble stone streets, brought me to a world of savoury smells from every ethnicity imaginable and very stylish fashion and unique jewelery. I will go back to shop more toward the end of my trip when I have a better grasp on my finances!

This afternoon we will have our first library outing to St. Paul’s Cathedral library. I am very
excited about this as my main academic interest lays in special libraries.

The Punch Tavern
*photo courtesy of http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/

The Cheshire Cheese
*photo courtesy of http://www.fancyapint.com/


The exterior of the Black Friar Pub
*photo courtesy of http://www.ronsaari.com/


The interior of the Black Friar Pub
*photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/








Camdon markets
*photo courtesy of http://www.alovelyworld.com/











Camdon Markets
*photo courtesy of philip.greenspun.com












Camdon Markets
*photo courtesy of http://www.alovelyworld.com/








2 comments:

  1. Cassie this is an awesome way to share your trip with us. look forward to seeing your next post. ILU,M

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  2. Thanks for including the pictures. Your descriptions are great - and I thought I was jealous before you left.

    ReplyDelete