Camden Town
When I was little, my parents had a stall in Camden Market, and it's always felt like one of 'my' places even though I was too young to really remember much about it. I have such a strong sense of the place, though - I’m not sure if it’s memory, or just hearing my parents talk about it so vividly, or my impressions of it as an adult. Everything has bled together into one thing.
In another life, I live there. I moved there at 18 with my best friend when he ran away to London (and urged me to join him), instead of running in the opposite direction as I did. Following a stupid boy down to Cornwall.
(But I’m glad I don’t have this other life - perhaps I never would have come to Copenhagen and met Lars? The thought chills me to the very bone. Plus, I adored Cornwall, and London always exhausted me.)
I haven’t been back for over a decade. It’s probably awful now. Touristy and overpopulated, gentrified to within an inch of its life, as is what happens with the grungy cool arty places of the world. I sort of don’t want to know. It continues on in my head as a special place, and maybe that’s enough.
This docuseries, however, did make me want to immediately book a plane ticket! It focuses mostly on the music that has come out of this part of north London over the years, but it captures the vibe perfectly.
London is so fucking cool.
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