Columbia Road Market

I'm pleased to report that I am whizzing through the items on my list. Well, at least a few. It's not possible to implement radical changes overnight. Some things need to be carefully thought through. For example, no. 7 on my list is to finish painting my living room. However, I'm carefully considering if there is any point painting the wall that I'm planning to wallpaper. Even if the wallpaper doesn't happen for another six months....

Still - I have achieved no. 9 - going to the Columbia Road Flower Market. It is in Hackney, East London.

I really love it here, even if it is chaos. I love to buy a smoked salmon bagel with cream cheese from one of the old-fashioned bakeries, and buy a coffee from the gallery Start Space at 150 Columbia Road. Why? Well, I feel the need to reward the innovation of selling coffee from a doorway - it is a tiny space!

There are so many vibrant colours of flowers. One of the flower sellers was shouting 'Credit crunch? What's that? Is it a new kind of chocolate bar?' Columbia Road has always been a good place for a flower bargain - if you go around 2.30, just before the market closes, they sell off what's left at real rock bottom prices.

This road has really gentrified itself in the last few years - it has lots of nice design shops, which I will update you about tomorrow. For now, I have market fatigue - we also went to Spitalfields market and the Sunday Up Front market - and then collapsed in a heap when we got home. Nevertheless, if you are a tourist, I think this area of the City/East London is the perfect way to spend a Sunday.