Sunday sensory overload on Brick Lane

Emiana and I appear to have made a regular habit of roaming around Spitalfields on Sundays (along with what often seems like a gazillion other Londoners). Generally not one for shoving through massive crowds, I suppose I'm drawn to the area for the sensory overload: gobs of art on view, waft after waft of cooking aromas, all sorts of people selling all sorts of stuff.

In particular, we've taken to browsing around the Sunday (Up)Market in the old Truman Brewery, where earlier today, we sat down at Red Tent Ethiopian for some yummy injera (a spongey sort of pancake) rolled up and filled with yellow split peas, lentils and mixed veggies - with exceptionally hot chili sauce available for the adventurous.

Beyond what's regularly on offer, there are often bursts of randomness that always seem to happen. For example, leaving the (Up)Market and walking along Brick Lane - to the other side of the old brewery - we encountered an amplified three-piece band (guitar, bass, and turntablist) sitting on the roof of a small sedan with an open sunroof rolling down the street.

At the other end of the brewery, the Art Car Boot Fair was in few swing. With close to fifty pitches, special on-car and in-car art commissions, live DJ’s, performance, films, organic barbecue, a paella party, chilled drinks and 'a multitude of art wares spilling out of car boots,' the fair was a pleasant surprise with plenty to take in.

And then there were the not so seemly sights at the boot fair. An old timey peep show booth offered viewings for only 20p. 'Why not see what's to peep at?' I wondered, expecting to view something along the lines of vintage burlesque footage. Upon payment, the peep show guy gave me some headphones and told me to place my head beneath the hood and to look at the screen. While the schmaltzy Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin classic, Je Taime moi non plus, filled my ears, a rather grainy and unsavory scene from an vintage (presumably Dutch) film involving a woman and a German shepherd played out on the scene. Completely shocked and embarrassed, I popped my head out from the hood.

'What did you think?' the peep show guy asked.

'Um, that was ... interesting,' I responded.

'Spread the word,' he suggested as I walked away.

Spreading the word,

Tiki Chris