Adventures in Europe, Day 20: London
Alda, Sólrún and I met up in Camden Town this morning and spent most of the day slobbering over the amazing amazing offerings there. Seriously, that place is absolutely amazing. I am determined that when I have money to throw away at frivolities again, I'll go back there and invest in some of the vintage clothing, trunks, maps, and whatnot they have. As it is, I bought some photograph prints to put on my walls: one Audrey Hepburn photo, the iconic Chaplin-on-the-gears shot from Modern Times, and the famous photograph of Grand Central Station in New York from about 1934, with light streaming in from the arched windows high up on the walls.
I also saw two items that made me feel pretty covetous: first, a beautifully preserved military-style jacket in navy blue, with a mandarin collar, almost perfectly sized for me and extremely warm, made of wool and well padded. Second, and much more slobberworthy (hm! I like that word!): A gorgeous three-piece ladies' tweed. Really, really gorgeous, and in great condition. And they're selling it for only 65 pounds, which is pretty moderately priced for the quality of the garments. I didn't have any money on me, so I refused to buy it then, but if I'm feeling as sorely tempted tomorrow, I'm going back. It's the sort of purchase that you have an opportunity to make only a few times in a lifetime...
After Camden-ing it up, we went back to the quirky little poster shop downtown, and I added some postcards and a great picture of a young Humphrey Bogart looking ever so cool but slightly naïve as he lights himself a cigarette. (Wearing his iconic 'bogart', of course.) We then continued on down to Kingston to make use of the oven in Alda's kitchen and bake some pesto pizza. Unfortunately we got back so late that we couldn't buy any vegetables anyhere, so we were going to have to make do with only chicken, pesto, and mozzarella for toppings. Thankfully, we ran into one of Alda's flatmates, a charming chap named Oscar, who offered us the use of his cherry tomatoes (yes, Amanda and Lauren, I know that look). The pizzas turned out om-nom-nom delicious, and we dined to our hearts' content. Sólrún and I had to leave pretty much immediately post-pizza, as both of us were tired and we had a long train ride ahead of us.
I also saw two items that made me feel pretty covetous: first, a beautifully preserved military-style jacket in navy blue, with a mandarin collar, almost perfectly sized for me and extremely warm, made of wool and well padded. Second, and much more slobberworthy (hm! I like that word!): A gorgeous three-piece ladies' tweed. Really, really gorgeous, and in great condition. And they're selling it for only 65 pounds, which is pretty moderately priced for the quality of the garments. I didn't have any money on me, so I refused to buy it then, but if I'm feeling as sorely tempted tomorrow, I'm going back. It's the sort of purchase that you have an opportunity to make only a few times in a lifetime...
After Camden-ing it up, we went back to the quirky little poster shop downtown, and I added some postcards and a great picture of a young Humphrey Bogart looking ever so cool but slightly naïve as he lights himself a cigarette. (Wearing his iconic 'bogart', of course.) We then continued on down to Kingston to make use of the oven in Alda's kitchen and bake some pesto pizza. Unfortunately we got back so late that we couldn't buy any vegetables anyhere, so we were going to have to make do with only chicken, pesto, and mozzarella for toppings. Thankfully, we ran into one of Alda's flatmates, a charming chap named Oscar, who offered us the use of his cherry tomatoes (yes, Amanda and Lauren, I know that look). The pizzas turned out om-nom-nom delicious, and we dined to our hearts' content. Sólrún and I had to leave pretty much immediately post-pizza, as both of us were tired and we had a long train ride ahead of us.