Camden Passage and Regent Street

We walked along London's Camden Passage, which is a series of winding streets filled with tiny shops and outdoor booths, filled with flea-market treasures new and old (mostly old). Some of the indoor shops were about the size of a walk-in closet here in Texas, and other stores were smaller than the inside of a large refrigerator. No matter the size, the vendors had their wares displayed nicely, and it was a flea-marketer's dream-come-true.

I found some good treasures here, gifts to bring home to family and friends.... and I resisted the urge to buy a silver teapot for myself.  I had a sterling teapot years ago, but the Texas weather didn't cooperate with keeping that teapot bright and shining.  As I looked at that cute little teapot in Camden Passage, part of me wanted it so badly just because it was old and British-made and I love teapots in general.... but then I got to thinking that I'd spend the rest of my life polishing it or I'd be selling it in my booth at the antique shop (like I did with my first silver teapot).  So after picking up that sterling teapot three times (and the vendor gave me a cheaper price each time) I put it down and just walked away.

We also found a shop that sold vintage music boxes... a small store with large glass windows in the front. My husband found the shop on the Internet and had planned to visit while we were there.  Not far from the music box store was a tiny closet-sized shop that sold hand-made chocolates..... we spoke to the candy-makers, took our time choosing chocolates one by one, which they put into a beautiful gold box and tied up with a purple ribbon. Everything, every little thing, is done with such care and grace...... there's just no other way to explain how twenty minutes in a candy shop can leave such an indelible impression on your mind.

We had our first 'fish and chips' meal that day, after our stop in Camden Passage. My husband asked some of the locals to direct us to a good pub for fish and chips, and everyone suggested the same place. Off we went, walking the cobblestone streets..... and had the most delicious lunch at Charmagne's Fish and Chips Shop.  I don't usually eat fried foods, but I had promised my cousin F that I'd have fish and chips in London, and I knew she'd be asking me about that when we got back home. Without a doubt, that meal was worth the calories...... plus with all the walking we did, I don't think those calories mattered that much anyway.

We took a double-decker bus to Regent Street after lunch.... and found Hamley's Toy Store, which is over 250 years old. Amazing place.... you go in their door and it's like walking into a British DisneyLand.... toys and games and fun things wherever you look, with their sales people all over the store, all holding different toys and games and displaying them, "selling" each one whether you wanted to buy them or not. What a fun place to work, but the faint-of-heart need not apply..... to work there, you need a massive reservoir of enthusiasm.  They had Lego-statues of Prince Charles, and William and Kate....... and a candy store on the top floor that had every sweet thing you could wish for.

My husband and I had dinners and lunches at a lot of pubs during our 10-day trip to London. All of the pubs were neighborhood gathering places, filled with friends and families...... the food was always very good, the pubs were clean and tidy, the restrooms were tiny beyond belief (and always either on the top floor or the below-stairs floor).... lots of winding stairways with lots of narrow steps in all those old pubs.

Every day of this trip was an experience, and an unforgettable memory.