HERE'S A KEW

j and n took another weekend and decided to tour the outskirts of london again ... hampton court was so much fun so we ventured out west of the city again ... this time to the neighborhood of richmond to wander the kew royal botanic gardens ... it was amazing, beautiful, breathtaking and so relaxing ... enjoy the tour

a nice walk through the neighborhood to get to kew gardens

the grounds of kew

one of the many ponds on the grounds

and one of the many greenhouses

this one the palm house

nice to wander the grounds and get lost for the day

we went on a treetop walkway ...

18m above ground

amazing views

a visit to the japanese gardens at kew

kew palace ... it was closed to visitors

but we wandered around anyways

to warm up we stopped at kew greenhouse cafe

for steak and ale pie and homemade macaroni

seriously the best food ever!

and who could resist a piece of lemon meringue pie that looks like this?!?!

cheers ~n

IN COURT

we wanted to see a new sight in london so we caught the tube to waterloo station and boarded a train headed west in london to the lovely hampton court ...

a quick cole's notes history lesson ... back in the tudor days cardinal wolsey built a magnificent palace for himself and king henry viii quickly annexed it for himself as his palaces were not as majestic ... he added onto it and at its peak in the tudor days it catered to about 800 people in king henry's court ... the stuart family (james i and charles i) and oliver cromwell also called the palace home ... charles ii built a new wing of the palace and william iii and mary ii added on to his design with a baroque palace ... they had plans to demolish the tudor portion but lack of funds (as with most building projects) stood in the way ... so we visited the tudor and baroque palaces that exist side by side along the thames in hampton court ... enjoy the tour we certainly did

the tudor portion on the grounds

clock court base of the tudor palace

astrological clock made for henry in 1540

wine cellar for the tudor court

one of the many parts of the tudor kitchen used to cook for 800 people a meal

fountain at the apartments and for special occasions wine would flow from it

every apartment in the tudor palace had its own fireplace ...

hence all the chimneys

beautiful gardens in the tudor portion

the new "addition" in baroque style

one of the grand staircases to the apartments

who wouldn't want a room decorated in weapons?

one of the throne rooms

a kingly bed ... not usually used for sleeping in

a hallway that housed the orange trees in the winter

just another courtyard to wander through

the pride of king william ... his gardens

and hunting grounds

seriously who wouldn't want to be a princess and live here?

cheers ~n

JUST A WALK IN THE PARK

so far living in london has been A-MAZ-ING! we seriously cannot get enough of this city ... j and n are a couple of suckers for history and it is truly an absolute dream to live in a place that is so rich with history, beautiful architecture and so full of life ... completely opposite of our small city in canada

well it is october and there is no snow here, it is still green and sunny and surprisingly warm ... j jokes that we are living in tropical london :)

we ventured out and decided to go for a picnic in a park ... so many beautiful spaces to choose from but we went for the biggest in london town ... hyde park ... what a fantastically lazy afternoon to lose the books and get lost right in the middle of the city ... enjoy

cheers ~n