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Our day out..
Jun. 5th, 2010 12:05 amAs a civil servant I get an addtional day of leave in recognition of the Queen's birthday. I took it today and decided to spend the afternoon in Kew Gardens with my teacher friend who was on half term. I hadn't been on a proper visit to Kew Gardens since I was at school but there isn't any excuse now as I get in free due to a deal with work. We started off with a visit to Kew Palace which we got in for free because my friend has a Historic Royal Palaces season ticket. I'd visited the palace when I was at primary school but in between then and now it was closed for restoration for ten years. It's actually quite small for a palace. King George III used to spend summers there with his wife and 15 children and it was difficult to see how they would all have fitted in. A great deal of work has been done to restore it to the way it looked in 1804. This has included matching paint samples and wallpaper borders which had survived in fragments since the period. One of the wardens told us that a fragment of wallpaper border had been found in a room and when they removed it a Victorian tax code was found on the back. This enabled them to track down the original design and recreate the original design. The top two floors had been completely closed up in the 1800s and until recently had been out of bounds to the public. Now they are open and it is possible to see how the walls were built and panelled in layers from the time the original house was built in the 17th century to the 1800s. There is also a fully restored dollshouse which includes furniture and furnishings made by the young princesses who were gifted at art and needlework.
After visiting the palace we went in to the amazing waterlilly house. The enormous waterlillies and their flowers are so perfect that they almost look unreal. Lots of people were taking photos of them with high tech looking cameras. We decided against a walk around the palm house as it was plenty hot enough outside. Instead we walked down a shady path to have a closer look at the pagoda. On the way we passed through a ruined fake ruined Roman arch which was a bit surreal. It was built as a folly in the 1700s as these were very fashionable at the time. However, it now really is quite battered so it's a ruined fake ruin! The pagoda is impressive but not very interesting as the public aren't allowed inside. It was good to see it close up at last and I got some good photos. After that we were feeling a bit drained as we'd walked quite a long way so we went in search of ice cream. On the way we passed the Japanese arch and garden which are lovely to look at and contrast starkly with the very green British woodland. We made our way to an icecream stall and each had a honeycombe handmade ice cream which was absolutely lovely. The sweetest thing I've tasted in a long time. After we'd finished eating and cooled down a bit decided to have a go on the Tree Top Walkway which is a fairly new addition to Kew Gardens. The idea is that you walk up lots of steps to a walkway which is at the same level as the tops of the trees. It allows you to see the tops of the trees and to get an idea of what the birds and animals which live in the trees can see. It is certainly a long way up but I like being high up so I thought it was great. So did most of the many small children who were rushing about as if they were on the ground! In my opinion the walkway closely resembled the treetop walkways used by the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi. Again, I took lots of photos.
Our final port of call was the Temperate House which was a bit boring really. I've never really enjoyed walking around greenhouses full of plants which all tend to look the same. I much prefer walking around outside as the plants tend to be brighter and look more natural. To me, wandering around the greenhouses is like walking around a museum in which most of the exhibits aren't labelled. I'm just not interested enough in plants to do the research necessary to enjoy it properly.
Basically, we walked our feet off. I was really, really tired by the time I got home. I think I'll sleep well this evening! I'm so glad that I made the effort to be outside on such a beautiful, sunny day. I so often don't bother arranging anything and find myself sitting inside on my own feeling bitter. At least now I might have caught the sun a bit. I need a bit of summer colour!
This evening I watched my latest Lovefilm DVD 'The Boat that Rocked' which I didn't think was very good. It was too long, didn't have much of a plotline and the dramatic finale didn't fit in with the spirit of the rest of the movie. I was disappointed because the cast list was impressive - Chris O'Dowd, Katherine Parkinson, Rhys Ifans, Bill Nighy etc. Better luck next time I guess.
After visiting the palace we went in to the amazing waterlilly house. The enormous waterlillies and their flowers are so perfect that they almost look unreal. Lots of people were taking photos of them with high tech looking cameras. We decided against a walk around the palm house as it was plenty hot enough outside. Instead we walked down a shady path to have a closer look at the pagoda. On the way we passed through a ruined fake ruined Roman arch which was a bit surreal. It was built as a folly in the 1700s as these were very fashionable at the time. However, it now really is quite battered so it's a ruined fake ruin! The pagoda is impressive but not very interesting as the public aren't allowed inside. It was good to see it close up at last and I got some good photos. After that we were feeling a bit drained as we'd walked quite a long way so we went in search of ice cream. On the way we passed the Japanese arch and garden which are lovely to look at and contrast starkly with the very green British woodland. We made our way to an icecream stall and each had a honeycombe handmade ice cream which was absolutely lovely. The sweetest thing I've tasted in a long time. After we'd finished eating and cooled down a bit decided to have a go on the Tree Top Walkway which is a fairly new addition to Kew Gardens. The idea is that you walk up lots of steps to a walkway which is at the same level as the tops of the trees. It allows you to see the tops of the trees and to get an idea of what the birds and animals which live in the trees can see. It is certainly a long way up but I like being high up so I thought it was great. So did most of the many small children who were rushing about as if they were on the ground! In my opinion the walkway closely resembled the treetop walkways used by the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi. Again, I took lots of photos.
Our final port of call was the Temperate House which was a bit boring really. I've never really enjoyed walking around greenhouses full of plants which all tend to look the same. I much prefer walking around outside as the plants tend to be brighter and look more natural. To me, wandering around the greenhouses is like walking around a museum in which most of the exhibits aren't labelled. I'm just not interested enough in plants to do the research necessary to enjoy it properly.
Basically, we walked our feet off. I was really, really tired by the time I got home. I think I'll sleep well this evening! I'm so glad that I made the effort to be outside on such a beautiful, sunny day. I so often don't bother arranging anything and find myself sitting inside on my own feeling bitter. At least now I might have caught the sun a bit. I need a bit of summer colour!
This evening I watched my latest Lovefilm DVD 'The Boat that Rocked' which I didn't think was very good. It was too long, didn't have much of a plotline and the dramatic finale didn't fit in with the spirit of the rest of the movie. I was disappointed because the cast list was impressive - Chris O'Dowd, Katherine Parkinson, Rhys Ifans, Bill Nighy etc. Better luck next time I guess.
