This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at City London chapter.
I swear that when I moved here I didn’t know I was going to live in the former Little Italy. But now here I am in between Islington and Clerkenwell, surrounded by Italian delis and restaurants. And I haven’t been to any of them yet! There is so much to do around here, and I couldn’t have found a better place to start my university life in London.
I was born in Olbia, a very nice little town in the North East of Sardinia, so I’m not used to living in the middle of the Oxford Street chaos. In fact, despite having lived in London for almost two months now, I still have to get a grip on myself when I go to the centre! In here instead everything is quiet… Well, sort of.
Maybe in Islington and Clerkenwell you won’t see the manic shopping crowd, but you definitely won’t get bored. I can actually count at least ten places where I can drink and eat on my way to university (and it takes me ten minutes at the most!). Plus, if you REALLY want to go to the centre, the area is really well connected. There are at least three buses on Clerkenwell Road that take you to central places, such as Oxford Circus, Piccadilly or Waterloo. Two tube stops, Farringdon and Barbican, are really close to where I live, while Angel is about a 15 minute walk from my halls. From Angel, you can take buses to Victoria, King’s Cross, Piccadilly, Camden, Notting Hill and so on.
Right near Angel tube there’s a big shopping centre called The Angel, where you can find high street shops and many cafes. In the same centre there is also a Vue cinema, two oriental restaurants (YoSushi! and Wagamama) and a club, the 02 Academy, where I had some good fun during Freshers. Right near the shopping centre there’s Chapel Market, selling food, flowers, gadgets and clothes. In the market’s street there’s one of my favourite places, the Round About Midnight jazz pub. Every night there is a gig and the atmosphere is just great. Unfortunately it’s very small, so it can be difficult to find a seat.
If you go past the Angel you end up on Upper Street, full of pubs, restaurants and crazy shops: today I went into CyberCandy and I found Wonka chocolate (I know, you might have seen it a thousand times, but I don’t have it in Italy…). In Upper Street there’s also Britain’s third oldest cinema, the Screen on the Green, an independent cinema which is about 80 years old. It has wonderful armchairs and footrests, it’s so cosy! Quite close to the cinema you can find the King’s Head Theatre Pub, a pub that was previously a theatre. Actors like Clive Owen, Alan Rickman and Hugh Grant performed here and you can see their pictures, with many others, hanging on the pub’s walls.
When you walk along Upper Street, you will find a tiny road on your right called “Camden Passage”. If, like me, you are a vintage fanatic, you just HAVE TO go there. You will find small and characteristic roads with tiny shops that might hide something wonderful. Also, you will have the chance to eat in places such as The Breakfast Club or The Frozen Yogurt; small but terribly nice.
If though, like me, you live in Liberty Court, you might prefer to explore the area around Clerkenwell Road, Old Street and Farringdon. If you’re into clubbing, Fabric nightclub is apparently the best place in the area. I say apparently because I haven’t been there yet: the last time I tried to get in, it was full. On your way there though many Italian/French etc restaurants may catch your attention and you might just forget about it.
On Old Street there are many pubs and some kebab shops, where we usually have our 2 o’clock in the morning dinner after the club. Luckily, behind Old Street’s church there’s also the gym I go to, so I’m not just getting terribly fat here. Aquaterra Leisure centre is actually quite cheap, £28.35 per month, and you get unlimited access to the gym, the swimming pool (which is being refurbished and will be ready in May 2012) and free classes.
What really stunned me though is that everything is walking distance from where I live. St Paul’s Cathedral is at about 10 minutes walking from Clerkenwell Road, while reaching Covent Garden took me about 25 minutes. Hopefully next year I will find a flat in this area though, because I’m really enjoying the Islington life. It’s like being in a small town, but you are actually in London! Wish me luck!
