East London - Brick Lane area

I wanted to spend an afternoon revisiting one of my favorite areas of London, namely the east end.

I had to check out the place on Brick Lane where I had a channa roll last summer. It is like an egg roll filled with channa masala. The shop is near Fournier Street and Brick Lane. It has a different name now than last year. From this picture you will see that it is now called "Arzu".

Here is the channa roll (with a bite already taken out of it).

On to my next food stop for a bagel with smoked salmon and cream cheese. I intended to head for "Beigel Bake" on Brick Lane. Instead I ended up in the "Beigel Shop" by accident. It is a few doors down from "Beigel Bake". Oops! The bagel (plain) was firm and had substance (unlike some I've had that are lighter). It was tasty. Later in the afternoon I ended up in the intended bagel shop, "Beigel Bake". I was not going to come all that way and miss out on one of their bagels. I ordered the same kind of bagel. It was also tasty and firm. I could not make out any big differences in the bagel. Both were good.

Here is the "Beigel Bake" bagel.

The "Beigel Bake" shop seems to get all the hype, but I think both shops had tasty bagels and similar menus.

As I approached the intersection of Brick Lane and Bethnal Green I decided to go by my favorite cat café, Lady Dinah's. It was a block down on the right on Bethnal Green. I was disappointed they did not still have the tall cat tower in the window. Instead there were a few low cubby holes for the cats and a curtain blocking part of the window. I couldn't see the cats very well that were hanging out by the window. This is the best shot I was able to take.

A beautiful, sleepy calico cat. I had not made a reservation for tea there and they were booked for the day. The idea is you make a reservation for a particular 1 1/2 hour time slot and then you can hang out with the cats there. You can order tea and snacks if you want. Next time I will think ahead more and reserve a spot.

I wandered down one of the many side streets off of Brick Lane and saw rows of old brick homes with big shuttered windows on the ground level. These were formerly weavers' workshops and homes built in the Georgian style architecture. The workshop was typically on the ground floor and the weavers lived upstairs. The silk weaving industry was huge for a time in east London. Mainly the French Huguenots were involved in this business. Here is a photo of a typical weaver's house. Peeking out behind the house is the tower of Christ's Church Spitalfields on Commercial St.

I walked to Christ's Church to get a better view of it and hopefully go inside. No luck getting in. It was all locked up. I am so used to having churches open, but I guess it is only open when events are taking place. Next time I will try to attend a service there so I can see the inside. Here is the outside.

Across from this church is the Spitalfields market. It is a large building full of retail shops. There are a few places to eat inside as well as restaurants in the area.

Near Fournier Street and the eatery "Arzu" is the Brick Lane Jamme Masjid, a Muslim place of worship.

I do not recall there being such a tall tower in front in previous years.

In this area is a lot of street art. I particularly noticed the political commentary this year. It was been quite a year for England with the Brexit vote to leave the EU. I happened to catch part of a tour on street art as I was exploring. This relatively new piece of art (appearing the day after the Brexit vote) shows how many Brits are feeling about the decision to leave the EU.

Notice the extended two fingers. This means "F-U" in England. The style of art is distinctive with the x-ray look. It was accomplished with a spray can. This artist often paints with this x-ray style. If he gets the anatomy wrong, he hears from doctors who correct him. His name is Shok-1.

The other two cartoons deal with well known political figures of the day- Jeremy Corbyn (leader of the Labour Party and the opposition, whose leadership has been questioned), Boris Johnson and Michael Gove. Boris Jòhnson (pro Brexit) was formerly mayor of London and was attempting to become the next Conservative party leader and prime minister after prime minister David Cameron's resignation. He was initially supported in that bid for conservative party leader by Michael Gove. Gove then decided later to throw Johnson under the bus and withdraw his support for Johnson. Instead Gove was going to run for party leader. It all got rather thorny. Here are some reflections on the subjects via street art.

Here is the gate to Banglatown (the name for this heavily Bangladeshi area) as you exit. This is on Brick Lane.

This area has a rich history of cultural diversity with various ethnics groups living here in the past - Jewish, Irish, French, Bangladeshi and more. You can definitely observe the Bangladeshi and Pakistani presence when you walk around and notice the people and ethnic restaurants. It has a different feel than the rest of London. I recommend a visit to this east end of London.