Dalston Roof Park

I have mixed feelings about this. Usually when I find somewhere amazing, I can't wait to come home and brag about it on the blog.


This place, well, I'm reluctant to share. And yet, I immolate myself for my art. Plus Time Out featured it so screw secrecy.



This is, as the name implies, a rooftop garden, with a tab, sangrias, and on occasion corn on the cob.




It's so rare to get some respite from the flat oppression of London's uneventful geography. A view, a larger share of sky. Expansion of the horizon.



Priceless on a summer afternoon. Use in moderation, please.

all images by Samantha Holmes

Infos
18 Ashwin Street
E8 3DL
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dalston-Roof-Park-2011/195882843789818?sk=info

London Markets 2 - Broadway Market

If you’re looking for something a bit edgier, then head to Broadway market in East London. Ugh, I hate to sound like a forty-five year old radio talk show host, but it’s “ hipster central”. Also held on Saturday, it’s a great ambiance (ugh, again), with musicians playing their instruments, people strolling around in their best “I just threw this on” ensembles, great organic farm products, and a little vintage
stall with goolljuss dresses , at twenty quid each. You can grab lunch at one of the pubs, the Cat and Mutton is particularly popular and draws a nice looking kind of crowd, or you can go sit in the park, drink a cider and bask in the intermittent sunshine.



Images courtesy of www.broadwaymarket.co.uk

Dalston Market is near by, in all its trashy, cool, and afro effervescence. For multicolored lash extensions, okra, and other basic necessities. It's a short walk from Broadway Market, just head to Dalston station and you're there.



If you’re feeling a bit more high-brow, head to Vyner Street (http://vynerstreet.wordpress.com/), with its hidden art galleries. A lot of the up and coming artists in London are on display here, and you are likely to get a much fresher perspective of London’s contemporary art scene than you would in the West’s more “establishment” joints. It's a close and lovely little walk along the Regent's Canal from Broadway Market.


Image courtesy of www.wilkinsongallery.com

Addresses

Cat & Mutton
76 Broadway Market
London, E8 4QJ