The old and the new...

Having ditched the old blog name (sniff) and morphed into the new I feel somewhat phoenix like. Yet this transformation didn't just occur it was part inspiration from my little journey from Liverpool Street station to the House of Masquerade event I was invited to by Absolut Vodka.

I'd finished work, been to the LCF library, had a sandwich at Pret and still I was way too early for the event. I realised I hadn't set foot in this bit of London for years, now I wasn't catching the train to Norwich to go to university I had no need. I admit I've been angling for an invite to Shoreditch House but when all is said and done Mayfair and Piccadilly are my stomping ground more by chance than anything else.

Given my early bird routine I decided to explore. Spitalfields Market was my little adventure and my how it has changed. The market had been fashioned in a new manner to complement the huge new financial temples (cough) and with a few older remaining building incorporated around the old now enclosed market.

Walking back from the stores towards Bishopgate and Shoreditch High Street, I savoured the old. The old buildings and street unchanged save for roads, pavement and electric street lamps since Dickens paced the old town by night unable to sleep.

S & M (Sausage and Mash - I'm coming back here!)

After S&M some champagne will be in order.

Then from the old into the new. The glass, the metal and the bustle of workers, with the Gherkin rising majestically in the distant.

It is amazing how this new mecca of offices sits amongst the old streets and churches. Walk away from Bishopgate and you enter a mix of run down meets avant garde. Juxtapositioned between tat and cool is Caravan at the beginning of Redchurch Street.

And it turns out Caravan has moved from its old address in Spitalfields Market to its new address up the road on Redchurch Street off Shoreditch High Street. Emily Chalmers is the delightful owner and offers a glorious selection of the old and new in her interiors shop.

Beautiful decor and space to browse in sheer delight at Caravan

My favourite find was the stag heads which I intend to pop back for!

It was a sheer delight for top bird blogger Wee Birdy (more of this in next post) with lots of birdy pieces to choose from. I had a lovely chat with Emily before a wander around Brick Lane prior to my almost fashionable late arrival at the House of Masquerade event party (surely 15 mins after doors open is late!)