Well....here it is...the final stages of our trip, but still a bit of an adventure worth sharing.
My original intention was to take the train to Heathrow, but I knew it wasn't direct and would require a transfer. But after yesterday’s harrowing experience where I was inside the car, the doors nearly closed and Marty was still on the outside looking in with fear in his eyes, I decided no more of that. I didn't care what it cost.....we were taking a taxi to Heathrow.
But, as it turned out, the fare was quite reasonable, about twice what two train tickets would have cost us. No stress. No lugging luggage up and down stairs (the station does not have a lift), no crowds rushing and pushing by to get in the car before you. And, more importantly..... no worries about getting separated.
Plus, it gave us a lot more time to explore the gardens!
Perfect!
So, of course, we headed to Kew Gardens just after breakfast.
The weather was brilliant, just perfect for strolling through this spectacular venue.
A Chihuli exposition begins on April 4, and various glass structures were in the initial stages of being erected on the grounds.
And, here was Marty's attempt at taking a Selfie in front of the Palm House Pond.
Apparently, he didn't notice that the medusa-like design was flanking my head, despite my mentioning it as he was taking the photo. One to go down for the memory books, I think.
We've seen Chihuly in the past, and I've always enjoyed how they are often placed to compliment the surrounding beauty, and this particular piece stood out as doing just that.
I loved the blending of colors to the flowers surrounding the glass.
Not far from the entrance to the Gardens stands a huge Palm house, with stone structures standing erectly along a walkway, each with historical significance.
A lion, representing the King of England
and the Scottish unicorn were two that caught my eye.
The stretch from the Palm House Pond to the Orangery is believed to be the longest double herbaceous border in the world. Along the walk, the borders are have various layouts, some devoted to a single plant family while others focus on pollination.
The triangular evergreens are actually yew that is shaped to a formal look to the gardens.
I've got some junipers planted in my back yard that could use some sprucing up. Wonder what my neighbor would think of giant triangles in the backyard? Hmm....
The long walk featured benches for relaxing and just enjoying all of the beauty surrounding us.
There is a diversion from this walk called the "Hive". This still has me a bit perplexed.
It is a very large metal structure which is illuminated by nearly 1000 LED lights. It's supposed to represent a vast honeybee hive. It's actually surrounded by wildflowers to attract bees for pollination.
The information board states that it is linked to one of Kew's hives and that the lights flicker in time to vibrations caused when the bees communicate with each other.
We went into the interior, and we could see lights flickering, but what was really interesting was that it sounded as if soft accordion music was playing. I didn't see any bees, or an actual hive, so I actually left without understanding the complexity behind this construction.
I imagine that there is a lot of buzzing going on when the weather is warmer, as there are fields of wildflowers nearby to attract them. But with the weather still being a big frigid, I only saw a few here and there on our walk around the grounds.
Just past the Orangery, stands Kew Palace, which actually is the color orange, unlike the Orangery, which is a lovely white structure which I failed to photograph.
I have no idea of the significance of the color, although you must admit, it does look quite striking. The house wasn't yet in season to open, but will in a few weeks.
It actually stands not far from the Thames, with gardens sandwiched between.
This ornate structure, standing on a mound just behind the house, actually offers a beautiful view of both, although I didn't bother photographing the river.
From here we headed to an entirely different section of the gardens to check out something called the tree top walk. You can see it nestled in the trees in this photo.
We did walk to the top, which required climbing a LOT of stairs (only to see a lift at the top for easier access....go figure). The concept sounded inviting... "tree top walk", but really, it was a circular path constructed at tree top height, that actually shook quite a bit when the wind blew....which wasn't all that comforting to me.
And, I would have thought that the various spots for viewing would have given me some sort of idea of what I was looking at in the distance.
And, for the record, I have a fear of heights, so taking this photo was a bit fearful for me.
But here's a pretty shot of one side of the gardens.
I'll admit, I expected something more....like some sort of awesome view of the city, or gardens, or something. Ok, I'll be blunt. If I'm going to have to face my fear of heights, I expect the end result to be spectacular. It wasn't.
But I didn't let my disappointment detract from the beauty of this venue. I was very pleased that we were able to actually have the time to explore, even though it was a relatively short time.
From here we headed to the B&B, boarded a taxi who drove us to the airport in about 10 minutes.
Security wasn't bad, even though I was randomly picked for a full body search going through. And Marty was picked for a security search prior to boarding the plane. Do you suppose those CCTV's in the underground spotted our tube fiasco, and red flagged us?
The flight home was relatively uneventful.....except for the man who decided to freak out towards a stewardess and go storming down the aisle after her when she went to get her manager. Many feared an emergency landing. I'm quite thankful that didn't happen!
Oh yes.....the luxuries of travel. We love the experience. We dread the transport.
On a happy note....our final meal was a boxed High Tea:
A special sandwich and scone with clotted cream and jam. Certainly nothing to write home about, but a lovely reminder of the wonderful Cream teas that we so enjoyed on our trip.
So, here ends this Gallivanting English Adventure.
Thanks for following along!
I don't consider anything I have to be on that is above head level as something I want to stand on, but perhaps if the gardens had been in full bloom it would have been more rewarding. It was a beautiful trip, thank you for taking us along.
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