"Get out of this city as soon as you can"

The first month of my semester is coming to an end. I feel like I have been here a while, and think I spent that time how I expected to. Before coming to London I thought I should take it easy the first month and stay grounded in the city. I have stuck to my plan without ever really thinking about it. I have been trying to go somewhere new as often as possible-this is an easy aim in London. I'll write a bit about recent explorations, and then tell you about what to expect in the future!

Last week, a few friends and I decided that we would walk to Camden Town because it was really sunny outside and it is only twenty minutes by foot to get there. Camden Town is a couple square miles of sensory overload. It is flocked day and night with market-goers, faux-punk cliques, hipsters, pigeons, tourists, and locals alike. Its architecture is the clearest indicator of its status as an individual, and not just another strip of row houses in Central London.

Interesting contrast: KFC beside artistic building fronts

We browsed a few trendy shops. I have noticed a lot of Chelsea boots around town, but going to the stores in Camden Town confirmed that everyone here wants a pair. The selection offered these, and many styles of desert shoes, as well as less mainstream footwear.

Exhibit A

Poking around the clothing stalls, I learned about a few contemporary brands that seem to be trending, like Boy of London, of which I knew nothing prior to visiting Camden Town. 

This logo is everywhere

I am not usually very interested in clothing, but living in London has awakened me to the need for some wardrobe improvements. Everyone here seems to have a discernible and consistent look. I feel underdressed going out in my beloved black converse here, but I also wouldn't want to be wearing dress shoes around everywhere either. So I have become more engaged with the fashion discourse here because it seems to me that many people in London take it seriously as a form of identity, one that is as fundamental as language or occupation. I get the sense that for many people in cities, these branches of identity are all connected-this is a generalization I have inferred from looking at everyone I see in the streets and talking to Londoners too. Being a student-someone without a real job, without a place of my own, etc-it is easy for me to feel the least put-together person on a given street. So this epiphany arrived unexpectedly at my cognitive doorstep when I was in Camden Town.

There was a great book stall at Camden Lock Market next to the food stalls. (As you can imagine, my attention was direly torn between the two!) I went to the books first. I found a first printing of the ever-controversial unexpurgated Lady Chatterley's Lover, the source of many readers' guilty pleasure in the 1960's. That book has a great history in London-if you're unfamiliar, read up!

Since I am in Europe after all, I figured I would offer my English major friends a bit of Continental Semiotics, courtesy of our friend Roland Barthes. No idea what this passage means, but its title arrested my attention as I flipped through at the book stall.

This tired me out, making me even hungrier than before, so I quit the stacks and got to the stalls. What an overwhelming experience-every stall shouting at every passerby, every kind of food available for the same price. This was a very difficult decision. I lingered by the curries, decided to go for something else since I ate curry at Borough Market. I contemplated pizza, but would have felt too guilty for indulging in American gastronomia. I chose a big ole burrito, which I devoured so quickly I didn't get a picture... However! I did take a picture of the fantastic Berliner doughnut I ate afterwards.

Almonds and chocolate on top, creme anglaise in the middle. £2 well spent.

My favorite thing about Camden Town is the Regent's Canal, which runs through a few different parts of NW London. It's a bit elusive and maybe even out of place in Camden Town-looks more like it belongs in the Netherlands than in London. 

There is an optical phenomenon in the UK that, because of this island's higher latitude, is seldom seen in the US: gloaming. It's the time of twilight when everything turns blue. It is quite amazing to see. Unfortunately, it is difficult to capture on an iPhone camera. I did get a good picture of the night sky though, in that liminal space between day and night.

Can you see the moon?

We went to a favorite local pub afterwards, where I tried mulled wine, which is hot red wine with spices-mine was made with ginger.

Still feeling hungry despite the food stall feast, we went to Sainsbury's to buy snacks. I think it is about time I make a confession here. I am addicted to McVitie's Digestive cookies. Don't be fooled by the title-these cookies are not some kind of spinoff of Ex-Lax. They are biscuits coated with chocolate, and the ideal supplement to tea. They were two for £2. There was much rejoicing.

We discovered something quite shocking on the lowest shelf of the alcohol aisle: wine in a plastic bottle. What?! How does such a thing exist? More curiously, why does such a thing exist? This probably sounds snobbish-I don't mean it to. I'm just baffled-I've never seen such a thing in the US. I thought the bag of wine was the peak of cheapness, but this might just top the list! We did not buy it then, but having been to the grocery store a few times since, I have to say it has lured me back to that same spot every time. I still have not bought it, but it might just have to happen soon...

!!!

On Tuesday, my flatmate Connor and I went to Greenwich Park in SE London, famous for the Royal Observatory and the Prime Meridian. We saw neither of these up close, as it was field trip day for a league of school children probably outnumbering the population of Winooski, VT. That's an exaggeration, but there were enough to lead us elsewhere. The Park itself is mounted on a hill overlooking a view that spans from the Isle of Dogs to the Shard. 

We had lunch there and walked around a bit. The parks here are the best. They are well-maintained and provide an easy getaway from the city. We rode the DLR, a line on the underground that actually runs above ground for the most part, so it was cool to finally take a trip with a view.

Speaking of trips with views...I should explain the title of this post. Last night, a few friends and I went to a really cool bar near London Bridge. I can't tell you anything more about it because it's a secret bar. It's true-we had to know a password to get in! On the way back, a few of us started talking to a guy near the tube station. We asked him what we should do while we are here-this is always a good question to ask because every local has a different answer. He told us, "Get out of this city as soon as you can." He elaborated that the rest of the country is completely different from London, that London and the UK are actually a bit adversarial (something I have heard in class, on the BBC, everywhere), and that he thinks the rest of the country is more worthy of exploration than the city. 

So, I will tell you about some plans for travel in the next month. On Saturday, a few of us are traveling by train to the Cliffs of Dover. We are spending the day there to see some proper woodland and a proper country town. This is happening really spontaneously. One day last week, I was on the Train Line website (http://www.thetrainline.com) and I was trying to figure out what I should do this weekend. I figured I should go somewhere, so I looked into cheap day trips. Dover was one of them, so I asked a few friends and now we're going this weekend! 

My friend Liv just began studying in Florence, and she asked when I could meet up with her soon. I have been antsy to get onto the continent, so I suggested Amsterdam-it's a quick trip for us both and pretty cheap too. So we're going for the first weekend in February. Can't wait!  

I'm not desperate to get out of the city like my new tube friend; but, I am so glad I have some trips to look forward to. One month in, I still love London and there is, of course, still so much for me to do here. I have unknowingly satisfied my goals for January-explore London, meet new people, acclimate to living abroad. 

Let's see what the next month brings!