The Enigmatic Charm of Camden Town (Part 2) / 神秘而富有魅力的卡姆登市集 之二

After an end to my brief coffee break, I continued to on with my exploration of Camden town.

Camden Lock

Camden Lock, sitting alongside London’s Regent’s canal, is I believe to be the prettiest part of the town. Lovely Willow trees straddle either side of the canal, culminating in a beautiful view which is hard for anyone not to be enamoured by. There are even certain sections of fencing where devoted lovers have left padded locks to symbolise a declaration of their union together! How romantic!

(Camden Lock view whilst standing on a bridge. Gorgeous, right?)

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Camden Lock market is probably the most popular and liveliest one out of them all. It's also a great place to find unusual and rare gifts ranging from beautiful art pieces to heritage antiques. You can literally spend days here checking out all of them and sifting through all that's on offer.

Even the "Camden Lock" sign seems to have it's own unique character.

(What a tradmark image symbolising everything "Camden" related!)

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(Love this shop which sells retro-style memorabilia. I purchased quite a few items whilst on my day trip here, lol.)

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A stand-out highlight of Camden Lock for me, is definitely the street food huts along the Canal. It's almost like a "global food village" with stalls offering all kinds of cuisines from Spanish, Mexican, Thai, Chinese and Brazilian and so on. I was amazed at the broad diversity of foods that were available, they even have kangaroo burger, lol.

Quite a few of them allow for sampling of the numerous variety of flavours, how thoughtful! So there will most definitely be something for everyone. My issues is just trying to work out what I am going to sink my teeth into, lol.

(Nutella spread on these things is just divine.)

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(You can just about make out the large eating area to the left. Though it's always heaving there, especially on weekends.)

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(Metre long hot-dogs! This is a serious amount of meat for a serious appetite, I'm sure you'd agree!)

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The pulled pork burger was absolutely delicious. This is a one-stop shop for anyone in need of some fast, but scrumptious, food servings.

But my personal favourite of them all was the Halloumi fries at Oli Baba’s. These appetising snacks consisted of deep fried cheese strips topped with mint leaves, pomegranate seeds and a helping of tasty sauces. Put one in your mouth and you'll find they're crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I found they weren't too filling either. Perfect!

So the verdict is irresistibly delicious and very highly recommended. If you ever get a chance to check this place out, you won't regret your decision to purchase a large order of these warm treats.

Food quality is of an overall good standard and quite affordable too. You can enjoy your selections at the big nearby communal tables or by the canal itself.

I loved taking a nice, quiet stroll along the Regent’s canal just behind the food stands to enjoy the deeper regions of Camden to the fullest. For that additional step further, you can also take a relaxing boat ride through the canal to Little Venice or London Zoo, for some more things to see and do .

(Some of those apartments in the background can go for well in excess of a million pounds!)

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(Nearer to the actual canal itself, things do get a little more peaceful.)

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Located near to Camden Lock, there are also a few more interesting attractions to visit. Shaka Zulu being one of them. This restaurant bar / club brings authentic and diverse influences in taste and style from the heart of South Africa and into Camden Town. There is also a 60ft tall giant statue overlooking the entrance and the interior covering over 27,000 square feet of bespoke South African-styled floor space. They also serve a selection of "meat-flavoured" cocktails, providing a totally unique clubbing and dining experience.

A perfect place to let loose on a Friday night. Let's party!

("Cyberdog" is actually a futuristic fashion accessories shop, but it sounds more like a nightclub from the outside!)

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(I must admit, this funny advertisement did make me laugh!)

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Don't forget, if you are in Camden you cannot miss out on the fabulous ice-cream parlour from Chin Chin Labs. If you follow my blog, you probably recall me making a post about this place a while back.

The ingredients are all fresh as the ice cream is made to order. I still find it so intriguing to watch the process of how that liquid nitrogen cools the ice cream mixture in seconds. The result is a silky smooth indulgent ice cream experience which tastes different from any other traditional retail frozen ice cream out there. A quick reminder of the flavours they offer such as vanilla, burnt butter caramel with sea salt, basil and chocolate (really nice and different).

Stables Market

Camden Stables Market originally gets it's name from a horse hospital located there many years ago. Nowadays, it provides for the largest square area out of all the other available markets.

It has been around since the 1800’s and it’s a really great place to shop and also get some food. There are in total 450 shops and stalls offering a host of unique items from accessories and jewellery to brand-name furniture and clothing.

It’s got great atmosphere with music being played around every corner and all manner of lights, colour and sounds dancing through the air. A tribute monument paying homage to the great and inspirational Amy Winehouse was on display. A stand-out showpiece for an otherwise gorgeous venue.

(A talented starlet that left us too soon.)

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Just when I was about to venture further into Stables Market, the London rain came pouring down and the brightness of the day drew to a quick close.

Unfortunately, I would have to come back again at some point to complete my tour of Stables Market. Bad is that a bed thing really? Lol, I thought not.

Camden is definitely one of the coolest neighbourhoods I've been to in London. With such amazing sights and vibrant atmosphere, there little not to like about this place. Also it must be said, if you love attending concerts and rocking out, Camden is renowned for it's famous venues for gigs and music clubs. But that's a story for another day... :)

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休闲地喝完咖啡，我们继续探索卡姆登镇。

卡姆登水闸市集 (Camden Lock Market)

坐落在伦敦摄政运河旁边的水闸市集很美， 几棵柳树散立在运河边，美景如画。铁栅栏上挂了很多恋人们留下的“爱情锁”，他们希望以此象征爱情天长地久，连空气里都弥漫着浪漫的味道。

卡姆登水闸市集很受欢迎，它由两层像仓库的建筑物为中心，里里外外聚集了许多手工艺品的特色摊位和店家，从现代艺术品到古董，是选购礼品的最佳地方，我可以在这里逛上一整天完全不是问题，呵呵。

运河边上的小吃摊，绝对是水闸市集的亮点。这里就像是一个美食村聚集了各国的特色小吃，有来自西班牙，墨西哥，泰国，中国和巴西等等美食，最适合像我这种爱边走边吃的吃货一族！午餐时候来这里，生意更是热闹哦。

食物的多样性确实令我大开眼界，这里的袋鼠肉汉堡就很受欢迎！不过太多的选择，让我无从下手啊，哈哈。

买了一个手撕猪肉汉堡，那香料味十足的猪肉丝加上口感松软的自制汉堡包，超级好吃。但我个人最爱的还是Oli Baba档口的油炸Halloumi芝士。夹起一块放进口里，口感外脆内软，充满弹性，味道有点像烤鸡肉，带有阵阵咸香和淡淡的薄荷味和石榴的甜味。这是很值得推荐的美味小吃。

这里的食物大部分物美价廉，大家可以在坐在景色雅致的运河边，一边欣赏来去熙攘的人群和车辆一边用餐，充分感受一下卡姆登镇上的无敌运河美景。

沿着小吃摊后面的摄政运河漫步，享受风情独特的卡姆登镇，也是不错的选择。在这里还可以搭乘传统窄长小船前往小威尼斯和动物园。

在水闸市集附近，有不少颇具特色的酒吧餐厅， Shaka Zulu就是其中之一。这家充满异域风情的南非餐厅，集酒吧，餐厅与俱乐部为一体，占地27000平方英尺。餐厅门口，屹立着一个南非土著人的雕像，保证你能一眼就发现它，呵呵。 我去过两次，都是在朋友的生日会上。餐馆里面的装修很特别，木雕壁画覆盖了整个餐厅的墙壁和天花板，还有各处摆放的森林猛兽和部落武士造型，让客人有种徜徉于非洲某个土著部落的感觉，呵呵。这里还经常举办很棒的现场表演，如南非土著舞蹈和音乐，是周末休闲娱乐的好去处！

还要提到的是，来卡姆登镇，最不能错过这里的Chin Chin化学实验室的是“液氮“冰淇淋。如果你跟随我的博客，你可能记得我以前发表过一篇介绍这个雪糕店的文章。

他们这家的冰激凌都是用液氮制成的，在短短的几秒钟内看到液氮在接触时迅速冻结混合物，让我印象非常深刻。也因为这种不同于传统冰激凌的做法，让雪糕保持着醇厚奶油口感，更滑顺浓郁，美味之极！

马厩市场（Stables Market）

马厩市场是由维多利亚时代的马厩改装而成的，在这个区算是规模最大的。

自1800年创立以来，马厩市场现在已拥有450家店铺，出售各种手工艺品和家饰，甚至珠宝和服装家具等等。这里气氛也相当不错， 柔和的灯光和背景音乐。这里还有一座已故女歌手Amy Winehouse的雕像，据说这是她离世时居住的地方。

就在我要深入马厩市场的时候，天公不作美，突然下起雨来。哎，伦敦的天气真是变幻莫测啊！那就只能下次再继续咯，呵呵。

卡姆登镇绝对是伦敦城里最酷的地方之一， 它的多元化层面完全超出了我的想象。如果大家想体验年轻充满活力的伦敦风情，这里就是最佳选择。它的摇滚音乐会和现场表演也都不错，不过这要留待下次再续了， 呵呵。