Sunday Afternoon On Brick Lane

When Tom and I first moved to London about five or six years ago we used to go on little adventures to discover our local area and get involved in all the hustle and bustle our capital had to offer. Since then we settled down, got married and had a baby.

Long before the baby came along we became a bit complacent. We liked the places we liked and stuck to them, never really venturing outside of our comfort zone or exploring like we used to.

Now the baby is here and with that a hugely cumbersome pram I’ve become a big fan of walking places where possible and trying to avoid public transport if I can. I mean I’ve never been the biggest fan of public transport but I have to admit in London it’s the easiest way to get around. Except when you have a pram that is. There are so many tube stations that don’t have lifts and although up escalators are manageable going down is terrifying. Don’t even get me started on trying to negotiate the stairs. If I saw someone struggling, the way I do sometimes, I’d offer to help but the amount of people who just tut and barge passed me is astonishing. It really upsets me sometimes but that’s a whole other post for another time.

Back to the point, yes, walking places. That’s what I like to do.

So, the other Sunday, we had no plans. It was a lovely day and I suggested to Tom that we return to our old stomping ground, Bethnal Green, and have a wander. Amazingly he agreed and we walked all around where we used to live, along Bethnal Green Road into Shoreditch and Spitalfields. It was such a nice day and we noticed loads of changes to the areas that we just wouldn’t have if we were carrying on in our blinkered fashion like before.

Here come the photos…

I love Brick Lane on a Sunday. It’s always so busy but it’s full of such interesting sights and incredible smells from the food stalls. If you’ve never been, I highly recommend it. There’s great vintage shopping down there too. In fact, Tom got some magnificent Nike high tops in Rokit on this trip too.

After easing Tom in gently with an area of London he knows and loves I’m going to start convincing him to travel slightly further afield and become tourists in our own city again. Adventures don’t have to mean going miles away from home and you never know what we might unearth. Our little bit of East London isn’t the be all and end all, I just need to keep reminding myself of that!

Kisses,