Staycation
UK
KEW Royal Botanical Gardens- A Day Out
2013
Kew Garden, Photo by PH Morton
Peter took the day off yesterday so we can go to Kew Gardens before the lovely weather we have been having drastically changed to autumnal or much worst, wintry.
Anyway the day was bright and hot, thank goodness we rubbed in a good measure of sunscreen before we left the house.
The journey was pretty long but uneventful, quite straightforward really. We took the tube from Golders Green to the Embankment and changed to Richmond line and got off at Kew Gardens.
The entrance fee was £16.00 each and they were asking for donations. Apparently the Government used to meet 94 per cent of expenses for the garden but during the past years, it reduced to about 47 per cent. I hope this is not a ploy by the Government to bankrupt the garden so they can sell the land for housing development. Ha. This would be rather criminal. Kew Gardens is beautiful, maintained by 30 gardeners and employs more than 200 personnel doing other roles and chores.
After having had an overload of museums in the last 2-3 weeks, a mainly outdoor outing was surprisingly enjoyable. Peter and I had fun photographing lots and lots and lots of trees and other plants. You would think that once you saw a tree, you’ve seen them all. But that was not the case at all. The trees in the garden came in different species. I think there are more than 2000 species of trees in the garden.
We took the Kew Explorer to get us about. It cost £4.00 for a day’s hop in and out. It was useful as it brought us to 7 major stops.
Peter and I got off at the pond first as it was nearing 1:00. We had a lovely picnic where Ginkgo Biloba trees were grown. It was such a lovely day. Near where we sat, we saw other families taking a break too. One such family was made up of at least 6 international children, there 2 black children, a white blonde girl and a white boy, a 10-year-old and a 2-year-old Chinese girls. We thought Brangelina and kids were at the park with us. Peter and I greatly admired the family in the park with us and of course Brangelina too. I have to admit I can’t do it. Peter agrees that we can’t do it too. We won’t be able to look after children who are not our own flesh and blood. Looking after children is hard work
After our lovely sumptuous picnic, we went round the pond and took more photos. We saw one of the peacocks which was walking unencumbered with cage or fence. It was magic.
Just 7 minutes walk from the pond was the Chinese pagoda. It was a very tall structure but sadly not in use for so many years now, which the driver of the Explorer assured us was such as shame as inside is beautifully decorated with dragons amongst other things. He said that Kew Garden have applied to the National lottery for funding to repair the pagoda.
The pagoda was a stone throw away from the Japanese garden which is complete with a Japanese temple. It was a typical Japanese garden with rake in pebbles and manicured buxus hedges as well as profusion of beautiful flowers.
Our next stop was the Kew Palace, which is the smallest palace used by the Royal family. I thought the Palace was lovely, again needed major reworking inside, especially the third floor and the attic. It was like going back centuries. You are met at the door with a couple of ladies in costume which was such a nice touch. The palace being small has its own advantages, it felt cosy. It was more like a big country house rather than a palace. But it was King George III and Queen Charlotte favourite place.
Queen Charlotte had a lovely garden; I love, love it. I love that brick-work resting gazebo by her herb garden, I want one for our back garden. This is the beauty of going to see other people’s houses, you get inspiration.
There was also Princess of Wales Conservatory. It was huge and rather an amazing structure and design. You would think it was named after Diana, Princess of Wales but actually it was named after the founder of Kew Garden, Princess Augusta, the Princess of Wales. The Conservatory was commissioned in 1982 to replaced smaller staggered buildings. The Princes of Wales Conservatory was aptly opened in 1987 by Diana, Princess of Wales. Walking around within the conservatory, I suddenly felt very nostalgic, it was as if I was back in Marag once again. Marag was where I grew up in the Philippines. It located in Mountain Province where it used to have virgin forests. Anyway Peter and I saw banana trees, cacao, orchids “growing” on trees, hibiscus, giant water lilies. There was a very impressive collections of cactus and succulents. We never thought they came in so many forms!!!