The Brick Lane

I really must come up from the London tube more often! We were supposed to meet our good friends, Joe and Anne Marie, at an Indian restaurant one evening. Joe, however, was running a fever and sounded absolutely horrible, so we ventured out on our own.

The Brick Lane is at once a quirky and ethnic neighborhood, currently composed of many from Bangladesh. It's also apparently known for its graffiti.

Here was a sign for a Bangladeshi bank, something I had to look up because I had no idea of what the word "Sonali" meant.

The entrance to the street is marked by this decorative arch.

This is a hamsa which in Arabic means five. It is also called the Hand of Fatima. It is recognized in the Arab world as a good luck charm. It was embedded in the sidewalk.

The stores looked quite colorful inside with their pastries and desserts.

I felt as if I had stepped outside of London and Europe and had landed on the subcontinent of Asia.

Even the street lights were unique.

I thought this was a radio tower (I am so naive). Turns out it is a minaret.

This is the sign for the mosque. Before it was a mosque it was a synagogue, and before that a church for Huguenots!

This was our restaurant. To get to it was a little like running the gauntlet, we were invited by every restauranteur along the way to come in and try their food. Finally, we just lied (mea culpa) and said we were meeting some friends. Well, in a sense (the past sense), we were.

More street scenes.

This is the view from our seats in the restaurant.

It was a fun place to visit, and the food was wonderful. Best of all, it was a good deal cheaper than flying to Bangladesh!