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Sunday, February 2, 2020

East End Walk

Rick Steves East End Walk takes you through Jack the Ripper's old haunts as well as through some immigrant neighborhoods. Take the tube to Liverpool Street to start the tour.


Liverpool Street Station is a tube stop and a train station.


The entrance to the Liverpool Street station. On July 7, 2005, this station was ripped by a terrorist bomb, one of 4 to hit London that day. The series of events killed 52 people. By the next day, Londoners were back on the tube.


Inside the station, you'll find a statue "Children of the Kindertransport." It was given by the Association of Jewish Refugees to the people of Britain for saving the lives of 10,000 unaccompanied Jewish children who fled Nazi persecution in 1938 & 1939.


Leaving the station, walk towards Spitalfields Market and look for the statue "I Goat." The goat is resilient but the first to be sacrificed in hard times and represents the many immigrants who live in the East End.




"Dogman & Rabbitgirl with Coffee" by Gillie & Marc. Their dream is that open hearts and open minds can come together over a cup of coffee to promote diversity, love and acceptance.


You'll find food trucks at Spitalfields Market when you tire of shopping.


You'll find Christ Church when you exit Spitalfields Market. The church was built by Queen Anne in 1711 for immigrants to have a proper Protestant place to worship. This was also ground zero for Jack the Ripper. Over a span of 3 months in the autumn of 1888, Jack the Ripper killed at least 5 and maybe up to 10 women within a few blocks of the church. He was never caught.


Nearby is The Ten Bells Pub, a hangout of several of Jack the Ripper's victims. They were all poor women who lived and worked in the neighborhood.


Walk down Fournier Street, lined with classic tenements. These were the homes of French Huguenots who settled here as silk weavers. 


Further down the street, you'll find a metal minaret and the beginning of "Banglatown."


You'll see the start of Street Art as well. This crane is by Belgian street artist ROA.


Faces peering out of a brick wall.




There's a courtyard with food trucks and funky art. There's a Warhol mural, a giant pink monster and a bronze fisherman.


The pink monster appears to be eating a digestive biscuit.


Street art even touches on US politics.


More street art on Fournier Street.


On Fashion Street, you'll find a mural of a man and a young girl.


At the end of the block, there are murals of inspirational black women by Ghanaian-British street artist Dreph.


The door is marked "Women." This is where poor women entered to start their shifts at a Victorian-era workhouse,


A little further, you'll find Artillery Passage, where Henry VIII used to practice his artillery. Today, it's home to Ottolenghi, a trendy eatery by celebrity chef Yotam Ottolenghi. He specializes in Middle Eastern cuisine.


Sweet treats beckon. Look at those giant meringues.


Artillery Passage is narrow and a favorite for Jack the Ripper films.



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