A Trip to Islington

One of the new year's resolutions of ours is to explore a new London neighborhood every week. Conveniently we headed to Islington this weekend since I wanted to go to the Cass Art Store located in the area to purchase some basic supplies in preparation for my class starting this Thursday. Sunday started off extremely mild and warm, with blue sky and decent sunlight, quite a rarity for winter here especially considering the sub-zero temperatures in the past week.

Islington is an easy ride away on the Northern Line at the Angel Station, just south of the busy Kings Cross Train Station area. The crowd entering the Angel station as we were leaving appeared to be rather young (early to mid-20s), and hippie at some rate. From the station, we walked up north along the narrow Islington High 

Street parallel to (sort of) the busy main street - Upper Street, which turned out to be a delightful surprise. The street soon gives away to an even narrower one called the Camden Passage lined with antique & home decor stores, fashion boutiques, cafes and even a couple of stands selling used books and second-hand jewelry. 

There was a lazy, balmy breeze in the alley. People were floating in and out the stores; a local cafe was filled with people devouring large slices of cakes and late afternoon snacks, some indiscernible music playing loud in the background; a brave couple was sitting outside sipping their coffees. We soon strolled to the end of alley after curiously checking out a few stores.

 

Cass, hidden away from the main street at the interaction of  Colebrooke Row & St Peters,  is not far from where the alley ends. The store is housed in a strikingly beautiful brick building, a renovated 1930's warehouse. This store is in every bit comparable to the Blick store on Bond Street in Soho (New York City), aesthetically, in size and in terms of the scale of the sale! Red stickers permeated the entire three floors and my shopping basket filled up in no time. 

We ended the day with a quick bite from the local cafe (I forgot the name) on Camden Passage. Apparently their cakes, looming hugh less than half a foot in front of us - due to our inconvenient seating at the bar, were the best seller as they flew off the counter in gigantic slices. But we proudly didn't succumb to the temptation  - our other new year's resolution is still young and strong. 

Cass store interior