295: Blog Post One

Islington, London

Lo and I explored our boroughs on Wednesday. We left at around 8:30 in the morning and arrived at Angel Station amidst a crowd of people dressed in their business clothing, laden with briefcases and clutching cups of coffee tightly to their chests. We took the Angel Station escalator – over three hundred stairs high – and exited onto Islington High Street. 

 

(fancy escalator, feat. the far more photogenic Lo Kidd)

In my prior research, I’d found a number of well-rated coffee shops and wasn’t completely sure which to take the class to when we visited. Luckily, I have a severe lack of social embarrassment and was perfectly comfortable stopping a stranger on his way to work to ask where good coffee was close by. Heading in the direction he pointed us, we found the lovely Crepe Café, a hidden gem off of Islington High Street and Greene King. They’ve got a weekday special of a breakfast pastry and a coffee for under 3 GBP. The café has outdoor bench seating but also quite a lot of room inside. It’s possible that it will get more crowded the later in the day it is, but at 9:00, it was perfectly suitable for nine people to sit down comfortably indoors. 

After our coffee, I asked another stranger – this is a bit of a theme for me – about the art market stalls set up off of Greene King. Unfortunately, it’s only set up on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, but as it wasn’t particularly large (some paintings, clothes, jewelry) I don’t think we would miss out on a special experience by visiting Islington on a Tuesday. From the café, we walked across the road to the Business Design Centre. In my dossier, I included an image of a stained glass display currently inside the Centre, once a part of the Royal Agricultural Hall. Unfortunately, the day we explored, there was an event going on in the Centre and we were not allowed access; the day that we visit, there aren’t any events taking place. The BDC is a space for large (inter)national events, exhibitions, and company gatherings. The architecture is breathtaking and I think it would be interesting to tour, but as it is not directly related to our course material, it may be something I just take the time to visit on my own. 

 

(selfie w/ Lo; Islington commons statue)

Next, we walked past the Almeida Theatre and the King’s Head Theatre Pub. Each were attractive from the street but as we went so early in the morning, we were unable to enter either space. We’re going to be visiting the Almeida Theatre on 1 August when we see £¥€$, so I’m wondering if it would be worthwhile to move our visit to Islington to that day. That way, we could visit the King’s Head Theatre Pub (only a few storefronts down from the theatre) for dinner.

We chanced upon a truly beautiful church just past King’s Head. St. Mary’s Church is in the center of Islington. It’s got a quaint garden outside where we could sit for class and the church patrons had no issue with letting us wander around. Finally, we walked through the Angel Station shopping center (another location where we may sit for class; it’s semi-indoors and full of restaurants) to the Culpeper Community Park and Garden. Weather permitting, I think it would make for a lovely little walk after we eat; the garden is close to the shopping center and the tube station. On our way back to the tube, we noticed the Steam Passage Tavern, a restaurant that’s reasonably priced with some vegan options. 

 

(Culpeper Garden and Steam Passage Tavern)

Below are my plans for the proposed date and for a possible date change to 1 August. 

23 July: 

· Arrive at Islington at Angel Station at 10:00am (Piccadilly line to King’s Cross, switch to the Northern line to Angel) 

· Quick walk to the Crepe Café to grab coffee and pastries and sit indoors for the first half of class (since we’ll be in a café, we can discuss Ishiguro!)  (CHEAP)

· Walk to the Business Design Centre for a brief tour, venue permitting (FREE)

· Walk to St. Mary’s Church for a brief tour of the church (FREE)

· Lunch at the King’s Head Pub or Steam Passage Tavern  (REASONABLY-PRICED)

· Visit Angel Station shopping center (optional) and Culpeper Community Garden for the second half of class (FREE)

1 August: (preferred option) 

· Arrive at Islington at Angel Station at 5:30pm (Piccadilly line to King’s Cross, switch to the Northern line to Angel) 

· Visit Angel Station shopping center (optional) and Culpeper Community Garden for the first half of class (FREE)

· Dinner at the King’s Head Pub or Steam Passage Tavern (the former is closer to Almeida, the latter is closer to the BDC) (REASONABLY-PRICED)

· Walk to St. Mary’s Church for a brief tour of the church and the second half of class  (FREE)

· Play at 9:00pm at the Almeida Theatre (PRE-PAID)