Spitzer scandal and Camden Market

The Elliot Spitzer scandal has not gone unnoticed over here. Apparently one of the other clients for the prostitution ring was an extremely wealthy Duke or something (distantly related to the Queen) who is also married and with four daughters. There was a long article about him in a local paper, and believe it or not, they quoted the call girl as describing him as being dull and boring. She also revealed that he wanted unprotected sex but she refused. Now there's a real comeuppance. This man was not only publicly exposed for hiring a call girl, but he was criticized by that call girl in a newspaper article. (Carl says that prostitution is legal over here, but I don't think the author of that article approved.)

Today I took a bus to Camden Town. (Carl tells me that in A Christmas Carol, Bob Cratchett lived there.) Camden Town is the home of the famous Camden Market, which a London guide describes as being an historical open market and a large tourist attraction that gets very crowded on weekends. There were several tourists there on this Tuesday afternoon. One busload of boys looked like a high schoolers from Germany or Scandinavia. Many of the couples wandering through the booths spoke languages other than English. (Although that is something we have found all over London.)

The market area consists of five or six blocks of indoor and outdoor booths selling clothing, jewelry, and other personal items that would appeal mostly to young people. Items included t-shirts (many with skulls and crossbones), hats, sunglasses, belts and large belt buckles, black leather clothing with chains, shoes and boots, jewelry (including rings for all parts of the body), and intricately designed glass and brass paraphernalia used for smoking stuff. There were lots of signs for tattoos and body piercings.

One notable fellow was wearing black boots with a floor-length black leather coat covered with many silver buckles and rings. He had no hair on his head; instead there were 10 to 15 large yellow and orange circles (like large buttons) attached to his skull, with 4 or 5 yellow feathers sticking up at the top.