Camden

Today we went to Camden, where our focus was on contrasts. This was the perfect day for such a topic. We started by taking a very slow moving and relaxing boat ride up the Camden River. We passed an incredible "village" of house boats which served in stark contrast to the mansions in the background. As soon as our boat docked at Camden Market, all of the serenity of the boat ride was replaced with the hustle and bustle of the famous market. I had heard that Camden was supposed to be a sort of alternative market, with heavy punk influence. However, what I found was a fairly commercialized market that sold the same material over and over again. What was cool was being able to wander and find different ally ways. One of the markets was in an old stable and some of the stores were in stalls. Also, the food choices were amazing, with options from all over the world. One stand just sold cooked octopus!

For the first time I saw one of those stands where you could have fish eat the dead skin off your feet. I actually would have tried it, except I had to leave because I was going KAYAKING ON THE THAMES!!! This came about from a missed opportunity in Chicago, which lead to a discussion at dinner, which lead to Jessica seeing something about kayaking on the Thames and being convinced that I would not be thwarted a second time. And so, 6 of us went on a quest to not only find the kayak place (not that easy), but successfully navigate three miles of the Thames to see Big Ben from the water. This was worth every second of it. The detail work on the wall and bridges inside the river is absolutely incredible. And while I couldn't take a lot of pictures (cause my hands were a little tied up) I highly recommend this if you are coming to London. Check out our friend Harry at http://kayakinglondon.com

Finally, I will say that Humphrey was very happy that we were on the water all day!