Gardens in London

Some famous gardens may take a little work to get to, a bus ride and/or a train ride or even an overnight stay, do not despair. There are many beautiful gardens within London that are even more accessible and are as pretty albeit not as huge as those outside London. This is the Chelsea Physic garden and is quite beautiful and is one of these gardens in London that I'm referring to. Besides there is an organization called the NGS and every year they publish a free (a donation may be required) booklet where they list all the private gardens that will be opened to the public. They publish a roster, addressees and charges if any to see them. The booklet maybe picked up in tea rooms, hotels or book shops.Peruse through it and see which gardens you'll be interested in. The most important thing about visiting London is to learn the transit system and invest in an oyster card. There are always friendly staff in every underground system to field any question you may have. I've met many Australian visitors who refuse to learn to use the underground and therefor had to walk miles and miles and get lost. What a futile idea! I love the underground and I love my oyster card. You can surrender your card at the end of your visit and get back whatever money you have left but I keep mine for my next visit. Its like I'm a local!

English meadow gardens

In the early days of English gardening, Capability Brown dominated the landscape. Then came along William Robinson and his idea of 'the wild garden.' In the early days of 'wild gardens' the public was appalled at the sight of unmown meadows. Today they are such a common sight in every English garden from the small to the huge and from the unknown to the famous. Here at Great Dixter, Daisy Lloyd has long subscribed to William Robinson's wild garden concept and there are huge swathes of land left to be wild meadows. The lane that leads up to the front of the house is flanked by huge areas of wild meadows and one can only guess my delight during the first moments of laying my eyes on Great Dixter. I've found what I was looking for.

Thames path, Richmond

It so possible to walk along the Thames. One can do it in London too if you want to fight the massive crowds. But in Richmond, its another world, slow and bucolic. That day I walked from Ham House to Petersham nurseries along the Thames. It was a very beautiful day!

The Getty Centre, Los Angeles

I just arrived back from visiting the Getty Centre, a huge museum in Los Angeles. They have an exhibition of Buddhist cave art from the Gobi desert of China, more precisely, in Dunhuang, China. I was in Dunhuang a few years ago and saw the real caves. Here at the Getty are replicas of 3 of the caves. They are of astounding quality and realism. There are other bits and bob from Dunhuang and all were very well done. The Getty doesn't charge for admission and is a remarkable museum. Last year I saw a JM Turner exhibition here. The picture, however, is not from Dunhuang but from near Dunhuang, the Bezilik caves in the Gobi desert. This is a reconstruction using pieces from a cave in the Dahlem museum in Berlin. This is also another exceptional exhibit in Berlin, this is a permanent exhibit.

CAVEAT

I recently found out that my images are being used for sale on the Internet. I have not granted permission for this activity and action will be taken soon. More shocking is my Kindle books are available for free download. They say they are Google but I don't know. I do not know these people who are organizing this free download. My Kindle books are only $2.99 each and please buy from Amazon Kindle and be safe. Its no point saving $2.99 and be caught by a scam! Again I have no connection with the free download of my Kindle books. I disavow any connection with 'these people.'

Bonnington square, London

This place had a strange history. Years ago these flats were abandoned and lived in only squatters. If you came from Australia or New Zealand and had no money and no place to stay, people in the know would tell you to go to Bonnington square. The flats were abandoned, there was no electricity, running water or a workable toilet. But people stayed and started to fix up the place. It slowly became gentrified. Today it is still a unique neighborhood, a mixed neighborhood, with friendly people and a close knit community. Bonnington cafe has no real cook, just volunteers and the menu depends on who the cook was that day. It was late afternoon when I finally found the place and I didn't get to eat here on the day of my visit.

Sunday, today and last week

Today I'm going back to my routine of worshipping at St Bede. Last Sunday I was worshipping at Canterbury cathedral. After a lunch of roast beef I went punting on the river and communing with nature and with this mother Moor-hen. I still have 'I pledge to you my country' .....stuck in my head.

I'm writing about my trip

I have a lot of reading to do first in preparation for the manuscript. That's the second part of the fun, to relive the memories......

I'm home

I'm back home now, landed yesterday, after my 3 and 1/2 week trip chasing flowers and eating my weight in carrot cakes. Its a hard landing and now to get to the business of getting back to my old routine.

Camley wildlife centre, London

This wasn't the country, this is in London, behind St Pancras train station. Here in the middle of a very busy London is this little wild life sanctuary, nice and secluded. It has woods, trails and ponds, lots of birds, beetles, butterflies and other critters make their refuge here. Its hard to imagine that you are in London. Loved it.

Sissinghurst garden

The very iconic twin towers of Sissinghurst. While it rained during my visit to Godinton yesterday, the weather was better today. It only rained on and off but for the better part of my visit to Sissinghurst, the weather was good, just cool and cloudy which was really good. The garden at Sissinghurst is as beautiful as I remembered it, I was here years ago. This was such a great visit. Today I know more about Vita Sackville-West and her life and loves and her time at Sissinghurst and this visit was so much more meaningful.

Godinton House and garden

This is a good shot, took it before it poured. I took the train to Ashford, then a bus to the property. The first bus was the wrong bus, I had to get off, waited an hour for another, arrived at the property finally at 11am. The property didn't opened until 1pm. So I waited in the pouring rain, sat on the wet grass with my rain poncho draped over me. It was still worth it. The garden is so beautiful. The house was closed but I don't want to see old houses anyway.

Canterbury cathedral

It was a long way to get to church. Usually my go to church while in London is St Martin-in-the-field but today I took the train out of Kings Cross/St Pancras to Canterbury to attend church at Canterbury cathedral. It took an hour. I was in Canterbury many years ago, so I thought I'd return to reacquaint myself with the place. The service was very emotional for me, being raised as an Anglican. I attend an American equivalent in the USA, the Episcopal church. Singing the familiar hymns, saying the familiar prayers and following the familiar liturgy made it all worthwhile. Besides today was the day we pray for Queen Elizabeth on her 90th birthday and to celebrate it with family picnics. I sang 'I pledge to you my country' and 'God save the Queen.' It was a great day!

Smallhthye place, Tenterden, Kent

This was the home of British stage actress, Ellen Terry. I only found out about her 2 years ago. She was a remarkable woman. This was her country home when plays are not being staged in the summer months. Today it holds her memorabilia and the grounds is just so beautiful, set in Kent, also known as 'the garden of England.' I took the train from London's Kings Cross/St Pancras, changed trains at Ashford for Rye, and from Rye a bus takes me to Smallhthye. It is a really charming place.

Back in London again

I arrived back in London at 8am this morning on the Caledonian sleeper. I went to check out Lambeth Palace garden museum but it will be closed till Spring 2017 for renovation.

The Machair of the Hebrides

These are grasslands filled with wild flowers. Here in a little town called Calgary on the Isle ofMUll I found some and it goes on for miles and miles, acres and acres of wild flower meadows. It is so stunning. This was what I came to the Hebrides to see.

Island hopping off the Isle of Mull

The puffins live and breed on the Isle of Lunga off the Isle of Mull. I took a guided tour out of Oban. They are really friendly creatures. I saw one come up with fish in her beak but quickly disappeared into the burrow before I could take her picture. She must have a young chick inside.

The Caledonian sleeper

Its an old overnight train between London and Scotland. I flew back from Rome on Sunday morning but hung out at Heathrow till it was time to head to Euston station to board the Caledonian sleeper, my destination was Fort William. It is an incredibly long train which at some point in the journey breaks into three, each going in 3 separate directions. I booked a shared sleeper, you have state your sex so they'll put someone of the same sex in with you. No one joined me and I had the sleeping berth all to myself. It was rocky and creaky but I managed to sleep. The view in the morning after we woke up was incredible through some really wild Scottish countryside. I met some incredibly nice people, some very helpful ones. The Scots are really nice people.

Domus Aurea, Rome

Its only opened on weekends because restoration work is being done during the week. It is only by guided tours and going Online to get your tickets. It is dubbed 'golden house' because it was paved with gold by Emperor Nero. At the entrance, at regular intervals, a bunch of us, culture hounds, put on hard hats and go inside. It was fascinating. I have to do more research on Nero and his golden house.

The flower fields of Castellucio de Norcia

I planned and timed everything just so I can be in Norcia on Wednesday to catch the Thursday bus to Castellucio. There is only one bus a week, every Thursday. I got up early and waited but no bus came, in fact, there were no other buses either. I was told later that the second of June is the day of the Republic and a bank holiday. So I hired a taxi to take me to Castellucio to take some pictures and take me back. It is too early in the season, there were only yellow flowers. Caastellucio sits imposingly on top of the mountain but on a closer look, it is quite a nondescript village. But the drive up to the plains was spectacular, the road was lined with all kinds of wild flowers.

Norcia, Italy

I left Rome very early this morning, took the train to Spoleto and then a bus from Spoleto to Norcia. I'm here to see the wild flower fields of Castellucio and there is a once a week bus tomorrow. This town is famous for truffles, wild boar and lentils. I had a wild boar sandwich this afternoon. The yellow blooms of the lentil plants stretch for miles. All along the way up here on the bus, the wild flowers line the roadside. It is really a beautiful area.