On Sunday in East London there are always handfuls of people wondering along clutching enormous bouquets of flowers, their resplendent colours wrapped up in messy brown paper bags. If you ever wondered where they've all come from, it's mostly likely Columbia Road Flower Market, and they probably got those beautiful blooms for "THREE FORRA FYVAH." Columbia Road is a magical, bustling little market, located down a cobbled street between Shoreditch and Bethnal Green, it is the only place in London where you'll find rows of little old beer-bellied men with fags dangling from their mouths shouting "tulips, tulips, two for a fiver", in the huskiest cockney accent around. The market is a wash with colour, flowers in every shade of the rainbow sparkle from either side of the road, from fox gloves to fuchsias, lilies to lavender there isn't one plant you won't find here, whether you're a serious gardener or someone just looking for some peonies for your window box. As well as the market, hidden behind the flower sellers there are rows of unique shops, cafes, bars and bakery's, and a handful of busking musicians strumming double basses and guitars while you wonder along. The market starts at 8am and runs until around 3pm, it's best to get there either really early or really late, really early to beat the flower mobs and avoid getting a cherry blossom in the nose and really late to get a bargain as the vendors scramble to sell off the last of their flowers. No matter what time you get there, Columbia Road Flower Market is whimsical and a lovely way to spend a lazy Sunday.
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