Kew Gardens

We had to take the tube to a village called Kew in order to visit the famed gardens. At the village, we sat down for lunch at a country shop selling fish and chips. Kew village reminded us of the small villages north of Newcastle. It was quiet and had quaint speciality shops selling all kinds of stuff that were uniquely English. I am always fascinated by the English butchers as they operate from shops and display their ham and sausages in glass showcases. I love looking at the different meats on display. After a good meal, we were ready for our long walk! One had to be physically fit to move around in London. Imagine walking over 6 hours a day traversing the tube up and down the stairs and then walking again once we reached our destination.

Kew gardens does not charge visitors but do accept donations in order to ensure that the gardens are well cared for and beautifully manicured. Many themed gardens such as tropical, alpine, japanese, chinese, mediteranean dot the landscape of the gardens. The Princess of Wales greenhouse is located here. However because of the garden's sheer size it is practically impossible to see it all in one day. Almost 3 hours admiring the gardens, the green houses and exploring some of the themed gardens, my legs were giving up on me. I gave up and opted to wait for Tim at the cafe. The cafe itself was interesting with many items that were perculiar only to the gardens like potted plants, postcards of the flowers, pots and seedlings. There was also chocolates specially packed for sale at Kew. I bought some unusual chocolates like the sea-salt and elderflower bars to give away as gifts.

After about an hour or so, Tim returned from exploring the gardens and told me that he too could not visit all of the themed gardens. On the way back to the station, we stopped at the butchers (I was admiring the showcases earlier) and bought 2 ham and chicken french loaf for our dinner. The sandwiches were fresh and tasty but did not quite satisfy our hunger.

We then made the journey back to Southwark for Anne Boleyn. I sat in the gentlemen's box on a very high stool which was not comfortable at all. However it was better than the crowd standing and watching the play. All in all, it was a bit of a dissapointment as I could not hear the dialogue (the actors and actresses did not use any mircrophone or sound systerm). I was a bit envious of the standing crowd who was laughing away at the jokes of Henry the 8th!

Tim met me after the show at the entrance of the teater. He had a good time taking pictures of London by night. We then took a train back to Lambeth North and ordered chicken chow mein takeaway from any Chinese takeaway near the hotel. The chow mein had bits of char siew and onions and was delicious. The only setback was that it was cooked with bean sprouts, which I did not like.

I woke up at 3 am and decided to go the 24 hour store opposite the hotel to buy a bottle of aspirin. With 2 aspirins, I managed to sleep till about 7 in the morning. I was still in the throes of my jet lag.....