Thursday 19 May 2011

A little bit of Brixton magic

Hello my dear friends,

I haven't posted about Brixton in a while and feel like I've been neglecting my duties :-)

I've been living in Brixton for over 15 years now and still find it fascinating and the most exciting part of London. The eclectic mix of people, cultures, food, shops, restaurants and  market stalls, make it a wonderfully thrilling place to be in. Lately, I have been going down almost every day after work for a coffeee and to read my book. I love Rosie's (will write about that place another time in more detail), but the best coffee you will have in London is at the Federation. It is worth making a trip down South just for a taste. Two young guys opened a small shop 2 x 4 meters big, and very soon they acquired such a following, they had people queuing for a cup of coffee. They moved next door into a much bigger place as the demand for their coffee was getting quite big. Here is their website to wet your appetite. 

http://federationcoffee.com/ 

Just around the corner from Federation is this Afro Caribbean shop that sells such random things, I always have a chuckle and a good browse (although I never buy anything as I wouldn't know how to cook the food). Last time I passed by, they were selling huge snails. They looked dry, but I also think I saw them moving, I can't decide. Here is one of the many pictures I took:


And just to illustrate my point of how mixed this place is, here are the posters on their wall:


And on the other side of the shop, a little bit of street art:

 

And to finish, here is one of my favourite shops in the world. It is a second hand book shop, owned by a cool American guy, who usually plays country music (not my taste, but I strangely enjoy it while I am browsing for books) and has a dog sleeping in front of a counter. A LOT of the books on my book shlef come from that shop. In fact, I was addicted to this place some years ago. I'd go in at least once a week and buy at least one book from him. This went on for months and months. I was broke at the end of this adventure, may I just say.


The other day, I remembered that I still haven't read Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, and went to Brixton for grocery shopping and to go to the library. But before that, I made a stop at the Book Mongers, just to see what's in. And what do you know, In Cold Blood was staring at me from the shelf. Although I love libraries and use them all the time, I just had to buy the book. Only £3 and a new copy too. Win win.
You can find all sorts of stuff in there. Some books are old and used and some are perfectly new. I guess he gets them from the publishing houses or bookshops that can't sell them anymore. More often than not, you will find a newest Booker Prize List book sitting next to an old classic. And there is a great variety too. From philosophy and poetry, to comics, science fiction, travel, novels, LGBT writing,... Come and see it for yourself. But until then, here is the picture of how it looks from the outside:


So that's it for today's tour of Brixton. Come and visit this wonderful place when you get some spare time. The best day is Saturday. It is full of people, and the place is buzzing with activity.

Let me know what your favourite shops are. Where do you buy your books? Where do you go for a coffee and a quiet read?

See you all soon.

Lilly xx

8 comments:

Lenka said...

Ovde je sve u svemu odlična zabava, vidi se da uživaš :)))!

Saf said...

Thanks Lilly for the Brixton update, Lambeth council should give you a prize for being one of its best advocates:) And so should the book guy and the coffee boys. And Rosie. And whoever owns the Brixton market (would it be Lambeth?) I usually get my books from you or from the Westminster library near Leicester Square as it's close to work. I use your library card too:)xxx

Boye By Red said...

Hvala na dolasku Lenka. Brixton i London su stvarno super :-)

Boye By Red said...

Oh Sofs, so many good answers, I think you need a blog yourself :-)

It's all privately owned, those little shops, by rich developers and people who rent out space pay quite a lot of money per month :-)

zxxxx

Ramona said...

E sad po komentarima skontah da si definitivno ex - Yu gore list! :) Pretpostavila sam, ali nisam bila sigurna! Jao kako mi je drago sto si mi se javila na blog pa sam tako dosla do tvog bloga. :D Daj mi reci otkud naziv bloga Boye by Red??? Kakva koincidencija!

A sto se tice odgovora na tvoja pitanja...Volim da lunjam po antikvarnicama. Imam dvije koje relativno cesto posjetim i uglavnom trazim stare knjige o krojenju i sivanju. Naravno, imam i svoja mjesta za piti kafu... jedno je kafe - knjizara na Bascarsiji u Sarajevu, a drugo jedna malo modernija kafanica koja ima po zidovima plakate iz starih filmova, udobne kauce i fotelje i super ekipu konobara! Ako nekad dodjes u Sarajevo vodim te tamo.... a ti mene na setnju po Londri i Brixtonu! London mi je dream city, a nikako da me put tamo dovede! :)

Boye By Red said...

Hej Ramona,

bas mi je drago da si dosla u posjetu. Ja kod tebe dolazim vec neko vrijeme, i drago mi je da smo se konacno upoznale :-)
Ja sam ti iz Tuzle, Bosanka, al zivim u Londonu vec 20 godina. Posto pisem blog na engleskom, dobro si skontala da sam iz nasih krajeva.
Tvoj mi je blog super. Bas mi se svidja i sta pravis i sto su ti postovi uvijek drugaciji.
Sto se tice slicnih imena,... kakva slucajnost. Kad sam birala imena i kad sam smisljala o cemu da pisem, naidjem na neku website sto prodaju igle, i vrsta igli se zove boye. Posto ja pisem izmedju ostalog o heklanju, onda mi je imalo smisla da tako nazovem blog. Nadimak mi je Red, jer imam crvenu kosu, tako da sam to dvoje spojila i dobila boye by red. Bilo mi je bas sega kad sam onda ugledala tvoj blog i da se zove Boye By Ramona. Ime me je privuklo kad sam pregledala stvari na internetu i tako te ugledala. Stvarno kakva slucajnost. Kako god okrenes, super nam se aovu blogovi :-)

Kako sam sad citala gdje ti volis da hodas po Sarajevu, bas me minula zelja za kucom. Ja sam obicno u Tuzli u avgustu, pa ako ovog ljeta uspijem, voljela bih doci i do Sarajeva, pa da odemo u tu kafe knjizaru. Zvuci super. Mozemo se nac na kafi i upoeredi rucne radove :-)
Ako kad naletis u London, imas vodica.

Hvala ti opet na psojeti, i dodji opet. ja cu sigurno opet uskoro naletit kod tebe.

Cao i vidimo se uskoro
Zlata

Ramona said...

Ciao blogovnjakinjo!

Nevjerovatna koincidencija zaista! :D Mada ustvari ja vjerujem da slucajnosti postoje. :D Ima uvijek neki razlog! ;)

Hvala za pohvale za blog! Ja sam do tvog dosla tek kad si ostavila komentar na mom i odmah sam prosla citavu tvoju arhivu! Svidja mi se jako to sto radis i pises. Definitivno cu se vracati na tvoj blog.

A u augustu dogovorimo druzenje pa ili ti u Sa ili ja i Tz! :) A moze i oboje... Lol

P.S. I ja imam crvenu kosu! Lol

Boye By Red said...

ha ha, bas je sega da su nam blogovi istog imena i obje imamo crvene kose. ha ha.
htjedoh te pitat, kako ti nazva svoj blog Boye by Ramona?

i dogovor je pao, vidimo se u ljeto :-)