Strolling Around London - Covent Garden

“What inexhaustible food for speculation do the streets of London afford! We have not the slightest commiseration for the man who can not take up his hat and stick, and walk from Covent-garden to St. Paul’s Churchyard, and back into the bargain, without deriving some amusement - we had almost said instruction - from his perambulation”

Charles Dickens - Sketches by Boz

Well said Mr Dickens. In the middle of the covent garden piazza lies the famous market designed in 1632 by Inigo Jones. But the history of the place is overshadowed by the vitality and life of the market. The shops, stalls, street performers and singers galore give a different vibe to the place. It feels like there is a festival going on, everyday!

Sigh! A day spent just walking around Covent garden is a day well spent. One can spend an entire day browsing through the stalls in the piazza, coming out of the stall browsing to stand and enjoy the performances of the street performers. But be careful, else you might get pulled into their performances as unsuspecting props.

My favorite memory of the place is feasting on hot jacket potatoes with beans on the street side, while listening to a performer croon his latest rendition in the middle of the street.

Wish I was back there right now!