The best kept secret in London!! What a gem!

Good morning Hive world!

I hope you are all well and having a good week! Now it is time for me to show you my favourite part of London that I feel is a hidden Gem.

This is the place I go to escape the hustle and bustle of the city life. I often go for walks and runs along here to clear my mind. More often than not you will find me down here sitting with a nice coffee reading my book, in a whole different world to the high-rise fast pace life that is London.

I hear you asking what is this hidden gem you speak of!?? Well before I tell you about it, I have a huge confession to make. Working in the city is a very high pressured and stressful environment. I used to wake up at 5am and be at my desk by 6:45 am. I would then not be home until after 8pm most nights. To top this off I was always on call for my clients, no matter what time it was. Some used to call me at 3am in the morning on the weekend. So naturally sometimes- once or twice a year I would take me days, where I would call in sick and head down to my favourite spot and sit in the sun most of the day, drink beautiful coffee and read my books.

This first picture does not do it any justice. This is the café I used to sit at with my black coffee and read my book. The hidden Gem of London is Regent’s canal. The amount of people I worked with who have lived in London all their lives and had never heard of it or been there just blew my mind. In the summer it was a hub of activity with the creative residents of the canal boats turning them into popup restaurants, coffee shops, Book shops, even naked yoga studios.

The canal is 8.6 miles long and stretches from Paddington all the way to the Limehouse Basin and Thames in the east. It was finished being constructed on the 1st of August 1820. It has 13 impressive locks. My café “Canal no 5” was located on the lock by the Islington tunnel.

However, my favourite lock is Camden Lock, where me and Naomi often would walk or cycle to. They have a world-famous food market on the lock, the food there is incredible. All types of street food from around the world.

As you can see from the pictures above, the market stalls have now been made into permanent structures, this was only in the last couple of years to keep everything more neat and tidy, but mostly for the weather for the venders. You can also get a tour of the canal on one of the longboats you can also see in the picture. Below is a picture of some of the food we have had from there, from my favourite mac and cheese stall.

You can also rent a “GoBaot” from Paddington to go up the stretch going through regent’s park. We did this for my 30th and it was great fun. I have some pictures of the trip below.