Blogs from Kew, Greater London, England, United Kingdom, Europe

After her trip on the River Thames, we stayed closer to “home” the following day. Traffic seemed very light for London, as we wandered along the Thames towpath towards Kew Bridge. The tide was well out and the house boats moored on the Brentford side were marooned on the mud. The flow of water between Brentford Ait and Lot’s Ait was almost non-existent. The islands on this section are called Ait and Fullers new bar on the edge of the St Georges complex by the bridge is imaginatively called One Over The Ait. Ait is the local name for small island in the river. The resident heron had abandoned his usual venue and moved to the other side of the Ait to watch for his breakfast arriving on the incoming tide. The path followed a strange ... read more

Following last night’s thunderstorm we were hoping for a clear warm day. Unfortunately the day looks as though it will rain at any moment. If we put our activities on hold because of the weather then we wouldn’t do anything. Our plan for today is to visit Kew Gardens. We haven’t been there before. To get to Kew we take the train. Actually three trains. All trains travel above ground but two are called underground. Quite confusing really. We start with the Metropolitan Underground, change to the Jubilee Underground, and then finally the Overground train. The train journey around London takes about ninety minutes with connections working perfectly. The walk from the station to the Gardens is along a tree lined street with some very nice houses, all of the same design and age. Painters are ... read more

Mein Hotel liegt an der Bath Road.U nd die Bath Road liegt gleich außerhalb des Flughafens Heathrow. Fast alle Hotels bieten daher einen ungehinderten Blick auf die die Startbahn. Und weil da viel los ist, wird es kaum langweilig. Allerdings sind moderne Schallschutzfenster so dicht, dass man nur ein leichtes Brummen hört. Nach Kew Garden fuhr ich mit dem Taxi, ich probierte Über aus. Nachdem ich mich angemeldet hatte, sah ich auf der Umgebung Karte, wieviele Über Taxis gerade in meiner Nähe sind. Es hat nur so gewimmelt. Dann ließ ich mir einen Kostenvoranschlag geben und buchte das Taxi. Ich erhielt aufs Handy Autonummer, Wagentyp und Bild des Fahrers. Er war innerhalb einer Minute da. Er ist ganz zufrieden mit Über, verdient 500£ in der Woche. Kew Garden ist ntürlich Anfang September nicht in voller Blüte, ... read more

Sachi’s mum, Mrs Shinobu Negishi, is interested in plants. There are some gardens where they could offer attractions over the winter period. Kew Gardens is one of them. Hence, I took her there on Wednesday, 13 February. Like the previous day when they arrived in London, it was bitterly cold on 13 February. Mrs Negishi treated me to the entrance fees for Kew Gardens. On entering the Victorian gate, the Palm House and lake appeared in front of us. She noticed some shrubs opening flowers and found a number of snowdrops, hellebores, etc, on the Woodland Gardens. Having heard about the orchid exhibition, we headed for the Princess of Wales Conservatory. We firstly strolled through the Dessert room with the collections of cacti, and then looked round the orchid exhibition in the Rainforest room. There were ... read more

We’ve been keeping a weather eye on the Met Office’s forecasts lately. Rain, you see, has become a regular feature of daily life here in England in recent months. Lots and lots of the wet stuff. The best day last week – let me rephrase that: the only day without rain last week - was forecast to be Wednesday. So Wednesday it would be. You must have good weather for an outing to the Royal Botanic Gardens. I come from a family of gardeners. My old dad won the “Best Garden in Wembley Competition” so many times he was asked to stop entering to give someone else a chance! We only have a small, low-maintenance garden these days, so my wife gave me an all-expenses-paid trip to Kew for a birthday present. I wouldn’t have to ... read more