Brixton Markets in London

Actual date of this event: 1 February

I wouldn't say that I loooooooooove Brixton, but it most definitely is a different area of London. Luke and I love to explore the different parts of London (Luke said there is a special name for this activity, but it has slipped his mind, anyone know the term??? geo-something???), and having heard of Brixton through various things, it seemed like a good place for us to venture. There is a market, several concerts are held there, and many of the big New Years Eve bashes took place in the area. It was time we gave it a go.

As we left the station, a large group of people were gathered just outside the exit watching performers... but not the tourist kind of performers. There were rappers and some dancers that were promoting an event that was going on later that evening. It was super crowded! This is the best picture we could get.

As we kept moving, we walked passed several forms of street art (and graffiti). On the fourth time of passing by this train bridge, Luke realized what it said... I never actually figured it out on my own. Can you tell what it says?

B OUR GUEST. Not sure what it means, but it is on the other side of the bridge too. Anyway, we could tell that Brixton was not like anywhere else we had been in London. It was the complete opposite of a tourist area. It was busy full of locals, and it seemed that everyone was out that day! It was a nice day, so of course everyone would be out.

Brixton has a few different markets which are all right around the corner from the station. Some of them blend together, and it is difficult to distinguish one from another. Brixton Village is not difficult to find, though. It is an indoor market with several shops and small restaurants. I had heard of a few of the restaurants thru prior London research, but every single one of them was jam packed. The Village had the feel of an outdoor area, though, with doors on all of the shops and tables outside of each restaurant. It is only open a few days of the week and for limited hours.

Oh no! We gonna rock down to Electric Avenue, and then we'll take it higher! That song has been stuck in my head for days now! Days! And every time I sing it, Luke breaks out in the robot. He does a pretty good robot :-)

Eddy Grant (the singer of Electric Avenue <-- click it, I dare ya! I don't promise you wont have the song in your head afterward.) wrote the song about the Brixton Riots. Not many riots actually occurred on Electric Avenue, but we wouldn't have this fun tune if he had written the song without it. Anyway!!!!! Electric Avenue hosts another market in Brixton - more like a flea market. It's not the nicest market in the world. There was A LOT of fresh fish being sold, women's accessories, cell phone accessories, toiletries, etc. and it all seemed a little fishy to me (hehehe). Luke and I stopped at one point to check out some fresh fish, and as we walked away, we heard "Amigo! Amigo!" One of the shop keeps was trying to pull us back in to make a purchase. We really didn't like the idea of having to haggle with any of the stalls, so we passed through fairly quickly.

It seems as though Brixton has had some drug and crime problems in the past. I got a feeling that some of the drug trading may still be going on, but I didn't really feel as if I was in any danger while walking around. Of course, I am reading about these past problems on the Wiki, and we all know how the internet is always right, especially the Wiki. hah!

Have you been to Brixton? What were your thoughts?

RANDOM FACT:
David Bowie and Sharon Osbourne were born in Brixton.