Last Full Day in the UK

On Monday morning (July 11), we got another late start.  (But, hey, we are on vacation!)  After we packed up all our stuff in the car and said goodbye to Will (Jess had already left for work before I got up.), we drove to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.  I had never been there before, and it was a place Katya really wanted to visit.  Arriving at 11:30, after maneuvering through traffic and getting slightly lost trying to find parking, we decided to split up, with Matthew and Peter going off together and Katya and I setting off by ourselves, with the plan to meet at one of the cafes at 1:30 for lunch.  I had a wonderful time exploring on my own. 

Enormous, flowering horse chestnut trees greeted our eyes a we entered through the Elizabeth Gate.  Passing the Orangery (which no longer is used to grow orange trees), I turned left onto the Great Broad Walk, which I strolled down slowly, admiring the wonderful, colorful border gardens on both sides.  The Hive, a mesh-like structure with exhibits about bees, was overrun with people so I passed by and made my way to the Palm House.  It was such a beautiful day outside, and so humid inside, that I turned around and exited almost as soon as I had entered.  I passed through the rose garden and walked across lawns to the Henry Moore sculpture near the lake.  Then I went to the Treetop Walkway, where visitors can climb up 18 meters to a meandering, circular walkway through a canopy of lime, sweet chestnut and oak trees. 

Horse chestnut tree looming behind border flowers

Orangery from the Great Broad Walk

Palm House

Henry Moore sculpture

Treetop Walkway

I walked through cedar trees and reached the water lily pond, where I observed a peacock who was willing to stop and observe me when I approached.  There were also moorhens swimming in the pond, which seems a bit overgrown with reeds and other vegetation.  

Peacock by the lily pond

Moorhen gliding across the lily pond

Then I walked along the long lake and crossed the bridge halfway along the shore to reach the Minka House and the bamboo garden.  The Minka House is a reconstruction of an old, traditional Japanese house that was designed to withstand earthquakes and tsunamis.  It is surrounded by the bamboo garden. 

Minka House

Next came the Rhododendron Dell, where I learned that most of these shrubs are not native and are, in fact, aggressively invasive species.  Finally, I made it to the White Peaks Café a little before the appointed time—and just before it started to rain lightly.  Peter and Matthew soon arrived, but there was no sign of Katya.  Texting revealed that she had gotten turned around and was in the southwest section of the park rather than the northeast part where she was supposed to meet us.  We had finished lunch by the time she arrived and then we waited for her to eat. 

We departed London for our final UK destination, the home and organic farm of Catherine and John Hartz, about an hour’s drive west of London.  The intermittent rain had let up by the time we arrived, so, after tea and cake, we were able to go out and strolll around the walled garden and the recently landscaped pond.  I wondered aloud why we had bothered to visit Kew Gardens when the loveliness of their gardens and lawns clearly competed in beauty. 

The walled garden and summer house at the Hartz's home

Looking across the pond to the house

John arrived home from work around 5 p.m., and the four of us plus Catherine, John and their youngest child, Phoebe, who is 18, put on our boots to walk around the fields and through the woods and see the black sheep and Angus cattle they raise.  Afterwards, we relaxed in the warm summerhouse in the walled garden, drinking champagne and shucking broad beans for dinner.  Dinner was delicious and the conversation was lively.  We compared stories of our travel adventures, including John’s recent ascent of Kilimanjaro.  The Hartz family is perhaps the only family I know who travels as much as—or maybe even more than—we do.  It was great to spend the last evening of our four week vacation in Great Britain with them.