Lady at the End
Blog: A Lady in London - 7 November 2009
A couple months ago one of my good friends in Hampstead sent me a Washington Post article about off-the-beaten-path neighborhoods in London. Now that it’s summer and the tourist crowds are beating the usual paths in Soho and Westminster, my boyfriend and I decided it was time to explore another non-touristy neighborhood in our new city.
To that end, the other evening we headed off to explore Crouch End, an area to the east of Hampstead and its sister neighborhood, Highgate.
We arrived in Crouch End with few expectations, and were pleasantly surprised by the neighborhood. In addition to having several mouth-watering bakeries that seriously rival our Hampstead favorite, Gail’s, Crouch End was chock full of great clothing boutiques, design stores and furniture shops. There were also several restaurants--an Italian trattoria and a French bistro in particular--that piqued our appetites.
On our walk through town I picked up a few goodies at Treehouse, a local Crouch End store selling everything from beautiful cards and paper to funky jewelry and delicious bath products. We then took a walk through Sally Bourne Interiors, an outdoor store and home decor shop that got us excited to continue planting our garden at home. We also ducked into Indish, a great design boutique with Marimekko home products and Mandarina Duck handbags galore.
With our adventurous visit to Muswell Hill a few weeks ago and now a great trip to Crouch End under our belts, we’re two for two with new London neighborhoods. As the summer progresses and tourist season peaks in August we’ll make sure to get around to as many more non-touristy locales as we can.
To that end, the other evening we headed off to explore Crouch End, an area to the east of Hampstead and its sister neighborhood, Highgate.
We arrived in Crouch End with few expectations, and were pleasantly surprised by the neighborhood. In addition to having several mouth-watering bakeries that seriously rival our Hampstead favorite, Gail’s, Crouch End was chock full of great clothing boutiques, design stores and furniture shops. There were also several restaurants--an Italian trattoria and a French bistro in particular--that piqued our appetites.
On our walk through town I picked up a few goodies at Treehouse, a local Crouch End store selling everything from beautiful cards and paper to funky jewelry and delicious bath products. We then took a walk through Sally Bourne Interiors, an outdoor store and home decor shop that got us excited to continue planting our garden at home. We also ducked into Indish, a great design boutique with Marimekko home products and Mandarina Duck handbags galore.
With our adventurous visit to Muswell Hill a few weeks ago and now a great trip to Crouch End under our belts, we’re two for two with new London neighborhoods. As the summer progresses and tourist season peaks in August we’ll make sure to get around to as many more non-touristy locales as we can.
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