Camden Markets

I visited Camden Markets today, which is just what it sounds like- a huge market with food, trinkets, clothing, etc. Like Portobello Road, it's a mix of stationary shops and stands, though more of the former than the latter. But while the stores are stationary, some of them are so in a very different way than on Portobello Road or, indeed, any other place I've been yet. In the mid-1800s, a big stable was built one level beneath the street. I don't mean to imply that the market is underneath the street; there are a few parts that are underground, but some of it is just sort of in a giant, neat hole. Eventually, if you walk around this lower part longer, you'll be deposited back to street level.

The coolest part about this stable-hosting part of the market is that the stables are still there. Rather than ripping them out, they use the stalls as the shops. It's pretty cool (though, I couldn't help but think, incredibly easy to break into. The shopkeepers must be very trusting and/or the patrons very respectful.) Some pictures of my time there: