Back to this tour though - run by a group called Alternative London. We met near Spitalfields Market which is in the City of London. The "City" is the original city limits of the Roman city of London. Now it is the financial district of London and during the week is filled with suits and bankers. On the weekend it's actually very deserted and quiet. But just to the east of the City is the East End, which is where the tour was. The East End is a very diverse and artistic neighborhood. Our tour focused on the history of the area and the street art that is found in the area.
So if you don't know (and I didn't), street art is almost a form of glorified graffiti. It is in public spaces and many times unsanctioned by the property owners. However, in this particular area of London there are tons of very famous artists who travel here to adorn the area with their work. So most property owners in the area aren't too concerned and even thrilled to have their property painted on.
Here is an example - this one was actually painted by our tour guide. It is meant to be about the struggle with depression and suicide. Not exactly my taste, but interesting in its own way.
This was down the same street. You can see how many different works of art there are even on one street. The large bird was painted by a Belgian artist called Roa. He is famous for painting black and white animals in public places. Also, his real name is unknown - Roa is his painting pseudonym. This is the case with many of these famous street artists. One of the most well known is London is called Banksy.
This is something different. It's a little hard to see, but that's a bicycle hanging there. It's been completely crocheted over. It is by one of the very few female street artists and she is known to go around and crochet over stuff. All kinds of every day objects, like a taxi cab, trees or buildings.
Finally, the walls on this street were painted by a graffiti artist named Ben Elne (in this case, it's his real name.) His has gained some acclaim because when President and Mrs. Obama visited London back in 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron presented them with a painting by Elne as one of their official gifts. He has since become one of England's most well known artists.
For those of you who know me well, this isn't my normal type of artistic preference, but the tour was really interesting. We saw dozens of other works of art. Our guide also was able to give context around the political impact this art has had. And a great history on the area from the original French settlers here, through Jewish neighborhoods before WW2 and the current fame as the curry capital of London with many immigrants from Bangladesh. I highly recommend the Alternative London tour company - the guides were interesting and knowledgable.
After the tour, our little group went to a pub in the City near St. Pauls. It was called Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese and it was great! It wasn't like most pubs in that it did not sit on a corner. It was in the middle of a block. Most of the pub was broken up into a series of small rooms and spaces that you wound through like a maze. We were in a room down two flights of stairs. We all had a couple of drinks and pub snacks (think onion rings, burgers, etc.) While there we encountered what appeared to be several large pub crawls - groups of people in costume came in, had one drink and then moved in. They were pretty hilarious!
Next up will be a walking tour of Old Kensington. You can't really get more different from the East End to Old Kensington!!
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