Tour and Travel Tips Camden Market in London

Welcome to the world of incredible insanity! Welcome to Camden Lock Village Market….where there’s entertainment allaround you!!! Seriously….keep reading and you’ll see exactly what I mean. There’s a little bit of everything! So much sothat it could easily be considered an American carnival, only better and much more creative!

P.S. Upon entering the market, I immediately noticed the recycled vespa scooter seats were converted intobarstools at a cafe overlooking the lock. So cool! At first, I had a blonde moment and thought that people were sittingon their scooters having lunch.{duhhhh…}

P.S. The store fronts were some of the most artistic creations I’ve ever seen in one place. From theDr. Marten store to the Dark Angel, this street is loaded with creativity and creative souls that are in no way afraidto express themselves…even with the most vulgar obscenities. Notice the guy below with the leather skull vest on.

P.S. Dudes like this just want to see if they can get your attention….and…they’re from New Zealand.

P.S. Secretly, I wanted to get in this chair and have my picture made. Not an option.

Even the Barclay’s bank is creative! Americans, can you even imagine one of our banks being so cool and out there? Imust admit I do wonder how many more aspiring extremist are attracted to the Barclays bank over their other boringchoices. Hey! It’s all in demographic advertising….right?

Every square inch of the market is covered with vendors on foot, wheels, shops and everything in between. You’ll findsome of the best authentic art, tailored or custom made shirts, fashion wear, and even custom made jewelry. I absolutelyfell in love with several of the vendors! So much so that I put a dramatic dent in my hubby’s wallet on this outing.

In retro world, a division of Camden Village Market you’ll find everything you can image to send your heart on a #TBT(#ThowBackThursday) mission no matter what day of the week it happens to be. Almost every record or LP that you canimagine is available in a pristine environment. For what price? I don’t know!

P.S. For the record GenYers: LPs mean Long Plays! I don’t mean a sports term either. It’s a vinylmaterial that was ingrained with music. It and the eight track is the only way we could listen to music before SteveJobs ever conceived iTunes. I agree….thank God for iTunes and the ability to carry thousands of songs in our pockets.

Has it been awhile since your last mani-pedi? No worries! There’s plenty of fish in the Camden Market Lock to take careof your dead skin. Just put your feet in the water and let the garra rufa fish go to work! Yep! That’s what I said!

According to Asian cultures this method of “doctor fish” nibbling the dead skin from your feet works. Whether it worksor not, I didn’t experiment as my trip to Paris was next and involves walking and I really need feet for that. Andnotice…it’s not cheaper than a traditional pedicure either! What the heck are these Brits thinking? Even my own Britcouldn’t figure this one out.

Let’s just say that even this doesn’t happen in Vegas…it’s illegal but so is prostitution. Go figure. I don’t see anyrisk-takers setting up a peces pedicure stand on the strip yet but I’ll keep you informed on the homeland too.

P.S. This is unsanitary people!!!

Speaking of custom made fashion….I’m a sucker! And I’m obviously rubbing off on my husband. Yay! All on his own Boydfound this custom shirt studio where we selected fabrics, buttons, thread colors and had two shirts delivered to ourdoor about four weeks later. They fit perfectly and look great on!

There is an option to buy shirts off-the-rack but at the time my baby’s belly didn’t allow us to do that. With hisrecent weight loss I think we’ll be able to pick up a few tailored shirts in person next time. We’ll still order one ortwo considering the price is only10€ which equated to about $13.

P.S. Boyd’s custom made shirts were totally worth the cost considering the detail and fabric options.Shipping wasn’t terribly bad either.

P.S. I love crazy, artsy graphic shirts and Camden Market goers and shop owners do too! The styles areendless and the prices weren’t bad either. I bought two shirts. One was screen printed and was priced at 19€. The otherwas more detailed and handpainted (24€).

The Stables at Camden Lock Market are historically exquisite and contain a wealth of antiques and vintage fashions.

P.S. I’m a huge oxford shoe girl thanks to Cole Haan. I was dying for these red, white, and blues untilI learned they would be permanently out of my size. Sad face.

Because they don’t even make this style big enough for me! If you missed my shoe rant be sure to read it. Crafted ofleather uppers and made my Shoe Embassy of London my daughter did spend her hard earned money on a pair as they are muchless expensive than Cole Haans. Even after shipping.

Don’t forget to look up while you’re here either. This could be one of the largest vintage iron & crystalchandeliers you’ll ever see. It’s remarkable and all hand-crafted to make it that much more spectacular.

You really have to look everywhere to appreciate the details embedded in the market. There are displays tucked awayeverywhere! This soldier’s uniform was tucked into a ‘window’ out of nowhere.

Stemming from roots, I love the buy things from true artist. Especially when they are demonstrating their talents in acraft fair setting. My crafty mother demonstrated her tole painting skills at craft shows throughout the United Stateswhen I was growing up. She would paint handmade pottery from Texas and furniture that my dad built in our shop.

Carefully their hard work along with my 500 lacy teddy bears and hand-made jewelry would get packed into the 16-foottrailer that I had to learn to back up our curvy driveway before I could get my driver’s license.

This gal reminded me of my mother as she sat making custom brass earrings and other jewelry. The detail and styles wereso adorable that I just had to buy a pair to ‘support her’. They prices ranged from 10€ to 25€ if I’m not mistaken.Considering the innovative details and the cost of brass I felt like I got a good deal. Much better than a deal from ahome jewelry party….that’s for sure!

P.S. My gold endless hoop earrings are some of my favorites and get a ton of compliments.

Food and beverages are a plenty! There are pubs and waterholes crammed into every corner. I couldn’t resist quenching mythirst on table 22 with an WKD in the raspberry flavor.

P.S. When traveling anywhere, especially abroad, I try almost everything native and in as many flavorsas possible. There’s a lot of flavors of WKD and I couldn’t ever recall which one I liked the most. I think it was theblue.{wink}.Check out for best travel bloggers.

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Don’t forget to check out the entertainment on the lock and watch the water levels. A picture doesn’t do this experiencejustice.

P.S. Every time you tip at this bar Justin Bieber dies a little!{I assume unlike the Dominicans,Londoners are disappointed and disgraced by the Beliebers!}

P.S. Last but certainly not least, make this market a breakfast, lunch, or brunch destination. Food isplentiful and smelled ahhhhmazing. Much like Covent Garden Market, we had already eaten and wished we hadn’t.

P.S. Let’s go to another London hot spot!