East End

9/6/2013 - London

I expected the East End of London to be the blue-collar part of town, like in Michael Apted's Up series. I met a friend for dinner there, and the area looked gentrified. I said to my friend, "This is a younger crowd than what I've seen in London. Not a lot of tourists." "Yes, it's the East End." "What does that mean?" "It's like Brooklyn." 

I thought it was more posh than Brooklyn. Where it was grungy, it looked deliberately grungy. Also there were more clubs playing dance music at dinnertime than I would see in Brooklyn. Even with the mixed first impression, I imagine it's probably where I'd want to live if I were living in London.

Pictured: Monikers in Hoxton Square. The bar's second floor is a hollowed out bus (my friend says, "this place gets crowded, but I've never seen anyone up there.")