A new weekend, a new neighborhood (or two)

With several neighborhoods now crossed off my list of potential new digs, I decided to head East. There seems to be a little bit of a rivalry in London about which side of the city is better. And from everything I can tell it's really the people on the west side that are the most vocal. I have yet to meet anyone from the east that seems to even care about the rivalry. But with so many telling me that "west is best," I wasn't sure what to expect when I ventured to the east.

Shoreditch / Hoxton

So I set off for Shoreditch. I knew quickly I was in the right place, I felt like I had stepped outside a pandemic world and quickly into the land of hipsters... the streets were packed with 20-somethings - skateboarders weaved between people, leashed dogs and cars. Very few masks were to be found in the bustling markets with lines 20-people long for food stalls. Designer graffiti in decorated alleys. It didn't take me long to recognize this would be a fun place to visit but pretty far from where I would be comfortable living. 

I continued my wanderings along brick lane and through back alleys (a number of famous graffiti artists have tagged the walls around Shoreditch with their work). And then I made my way north to Columbia Road flower market and Hoxton where the hipsters with skateboards were replaced with parents pushing high-end baby strollers. And, maybe it was just by chance, but I heard a number of American accents as I wandered through this part of the city. 

Swiss Cottage / Belsize Park

I'm very lucky to have an incredible network of friends around the world. When I mentioned I was moving to London, there wasn't a shortage of people that knew someone in London and offered to make introductions. I plan on taking everyone up on this, but I didn't want to reach out to too many people until I am a little more settled into the city. However, one person that I did reach out to lived in the Swiss Cottage area and I went over to her place for dinner. Not only was it a welcome change from my solitude, I got to check her neighborhood as well. The benefit of this area is that it's right off the Jubilee line - making a commute to work a measly 30 minutes vs over an hour from some of the other places. I have to admit, walking out of the tube and seeing the lovely little street lined with blooming trees, which in my mind quintessential London, was a good start. I decided to pause my neighborhood search and just enjoy a dinner with a few new friends.