The early morning empty street of Borough Market
I am a sucker for the ‘M’ word…no, not men…markets. Markets are fascinating to me, I can wander around them for hours and looking at the perfectly placed produce, marvel at new shapes and smells, or watch the interactions with the sellers and customers. I can appreciate dirty, smelly markets as well as upscale markets; yet I must admit that I prefer the dirty, smelly ones! So when a friend recommended I go check out the Borough Market in London this summer, I didn’t even hesitate. I picked up my camera and took the tube to go check out Borough Market which was nestled under railway viaducts near London Bridge.
I went early to avoid crowds and figured that all the best stuff would be there early. However, to my surprise many of the stalls hadn’t opened up yet! Apparently this wasn’t like Asian markets where things opened as the sun came up in order to beat the heat. I continued to wander around with my camera watching vendors get set up for the day feeling as if I wasn’t actually a tourist, but instead that I was part of the market atmosphere prepping for a date. The upside was that I had the place to myself. The downside was that there wasn’t as much food out to sample!
Borough Market was definitely more upscale than what I’m used to and had all varieties of prepared food as well as fruits and vegetables. But I think my favorite thing about it was the location of it under the viaduct and the hundreds of tiny little restaurants which surrounded the market. All looked so yummy and made me wish I could come back later that evening for dinner! But, for this trip to Borough Market all I could do was look around, take pictures, and interact with the vendors. Just what I love to do!
Daisies brighten up dreary London skies
Fluffy Merange Clouds of Yumminess
Produce Carts
Cheese Glorious Cheese
What more is there to say?!
Colorful Cookies
Market Restaurants
London Loaves
Prepared Food
Sherry Ott is a refugee from corporate IT who is now a long term traveler, blogger, and photographer. She’s a co-founder of Briefcasetobackpack.com, a website offering career break travel inspiration and advice.
Additionally, she runs an around the world travel blog writing about her travel and expat adventures at Ottsworld.com.com.
