
It is so hard coming to London or any city for that matter as a tourist – the guide books seem to be filled with hundreds of pages of detail on one small seemingly obscure statue, there are unhelpful maps, dodgy recommendations which have been living too long off their reputation and worst of all there is very little local knowledge. What I really want from a guide book is it to act like a silent local tour buddy, taking me first to see the “essentials” where I can get my picture taken in front of the cities most famous landmarks – aka London Bridge, Houses of Parliament and Picadilly Circus, and then, once I have safely Facebook status checked in, selfied to my hearts content and social media conquered my holiday city, I want my local travel buddy to take me see the hidden gems that makes each place so unique and special. One such gem is Columbia Road Flower Market, a perfect place to shop, take beautiful pictures, meet interesting people, eat amazing food and relax at the haunts of some of London’s most trendiest hipsters.
The market is open every Sunday until 3pm. We arrived around 1.30 in the afternoon and the streets were already bustling. Buskers strummed guitars whilst hipster ate oysters and drank beer in the street. Clientele with high waisted jeans, crop tops and hats spilled out of the Cafes and Boho Restaurants. The houses were really smart and the few gaps in the street had been filled with boutique shops selling terracotta pottery and antiques. Columbia Road was beautiful, with lovely shops selling cool clothes, art, gardening tools and home furnishings. Each one was so unique and alternative, I just loved the vibe. People queed for coffee and fresh juice being made behind tiny counters, pop up shops from front doors of houses to cater for this thirst crowd
In between the shops were endless barrows of flowers, plants and potted trees. Real Londoners shouted at the top of their voices their offers and prices. The atmosphere was great. People jostled past with large ferns and banana plants. Cactuses were sold next to chilli plants for £1. Young men presented beaming girls with giant bouquets of sunflowers, roses and hyacinths wrapped in brown paper. The place was full, so sometimes it was hard walking through the throng of people. We had a good look and took some pictures and by the time we had got an amazing coffee from an art gallery/cafe, the market started closing and the prices started getting lower. It was hard to decide which flowers to buy because they were all so lovely. In the end we decided upon a huge bought of sunflowers and another of orange cabbage flowers as they were so different to anything that I had seen before.
After flower shopping we decided to go to Venerdi‘s a great Italian restaurant in Chatsworth Road. We decided upon Venerdi’s for a change but we could have gone to any one of the great eats along Broadway Market, which is just 15 minutes walk from Columbia Flower Road and is where I bought my green jumper that I am wearing here in the pictures.
As this was a Sunday afternoon out I decided to wear faux leather baggy (but not so baggy after the giant calzone pizza) shorts and combine them with a green sweater for casual look . What I love about this top is the rich green color, which really goes well with dark bottoms, like dark blue jeans or black shorts. The embellishment and pattern on the front I felt was so original as was the detail in the sleeves and as soon as I saw it I loved it. Let me know what you think of my suggestion for a great thing to do on a Sunday in London and also if you like the look! 🙂 Do have any great things to do in your city on a Sunday? What local haunts would your recommend or love to go on your day off? Let me know, Love Abi xxx
WEARING
Faux Leather Shorts – Ebay
Green Embellished Sweater – BLACK TRUFFLE
Metal Tip shoes – STRADIVARIUS
Silver studded earrings – BULGARI
White baggy T – H&M
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🙂 xxx