While I am writing this day 2 post I am sitting in my flat watching the Lord of the Rings the Two Towers. For my family and friends this will come as no surprise - seeing as this particular trilogy is one of my favorites! So onto day 2 - my visit to the East End of London - Brick Lane my stores namesake. Kris and I headed out for Spitafields market (far superior to Portobello Road in my opinion) and spent much of the day on Brick Lane and below are some of my favorite pictures from our afternoon.
We arrived on Brick Lane after perusing the stalls at the makeshift Spitafield Market while they are re-building and upgrading the market site and I must admit - I know Brick Lane is a popular place on a Sunday which is the day of the markets of Spitafields, Petticoat Lane and brick Lane - but the amount of people we saw was something quite unexpected! We decided to grab a bite to eat first. For those of you who don't know - Brick Lane is famous for 2 things; Indian food and Bagels. Now my friends and family have always known about my aversion to Curry - and found it quite strange considering my love of all things English. Well call it my current state of adventurous experimentation - or hung-over starvation, but I decided to go for it. I let Kris order away and the next thing I knew I was hooked! I am still not a fan of heavily strong tasting curry - most like that found in America, but the food we had today - WOW!!! I am still thinking about it - and have a funny feeling I will be having quite a bit more Indian food in the future. I am a TRUE Anglophile now! 
After eating we were still intrigued by the fact that it appeared that half of London was wandering Brick Lane this afternoon so it was off exploring. What we found was that we showed up on the day of the Brick Lane Music and Food Festival - based out of the old Truman Brewery. FANTASTIC!!! People everywhere dancing and drinking and the people watching was a true taste of the East End of London as you can see below!
The Music Festival was free to all - but the line was a mile long so we took pleasure in wandering up and down the long street. The amount of people was equivalent to the Abbot Kinney Festival times 100 with everyone dancing and drinking in the streets.
Nobody seemed to mind waiting in the long Que as every single one of them had a drink in hand.
This street musician entertained the crowds thoroughly with his talents and sound effects until the coppers came and shut him down despite the boos of hundreds.
This marks the beginning area of the Brick Lane market - and I must admit the wares being peddled are NOT QUITE as posh as the ones I carry at Brick Lane West. :-)
We couldn't figure out if the furniture was for sale - or people just brought furniture down to be able to sit outside of the bar itself and watch the goings on.
Open container law in England? Nope! Just a couple of punk blokes enjoying the day.
A few of my typical East End working bloke fans. Kris says the one in the red wanted to follow us home......
Mask Fetish anyone?
We decided that this bloke's girlfriend ran off with one of his mates. If you can't read the sign it says "Everything 10 pence" That's the equivalent of 20 cents! Think she will be pissed when she comes home to collect her things?
Ok - I don't even know WHAT to say about this guy except MAYBE he shouldn't have sold the shirt off his back. Just a thought.
Now THIS is a name for a Hair Salon!
This is THE famous 24 hour Bagel place on Brick Lane - where everyone goes after a night out at the pubs and clubs in the East End. If you ever had a fresh out of the oven bagel from here - you would see why I stood in line to get some to take back to my flat even though I am was stuffed from lunch. Hmmmm....actually one of those sounds good right about now....
After a full day of walking around and people watching, fresh hot bagels and some new amazing artwork for the store decor in tow, it was time to head home to the relative peace and quiet (in comparison) of central London. Cheers!
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