London

The view from our place in London, where we spend the last three nights of our trip. We stayed in the southern part of Notting Hill.

So many flowers! How do they water them all?

Sloane Square

The crowds of London were a big change from the small towns and cities we were used to.

We very much appreciated the markings on the street telling us which way to look when crossing.

    

Riding on the top level of the double-decker buses was one of our favorite ways to see London. Something that's really surprising about London traffic, filled with busses, taxis, and cars is how quiet it can be. All their new black cabs are electric, along with a large percentage of busses and Ubers and even private cars. That means sometimes we'd be crossing a busy intersection and almost all the cars would be quiet. It was surprising what a big impact it can have on the feel of the city.

Pastries at Ottolenghi Marylebone.

    We spent an afternoon taking an Italian cooking class that began with a trip to this amazing farmers’ market.

Very carefully filleting a fish.

We made ricotta stuffed zucchini blossoms, fish over roasted potatoes, stuffed peppers, a fresh green salad, breadsticks, and a half-and-half torta del nonno/della nonna. It was all delicious. Other London food highlights were: the spinach cream pizza at Polpo, the mushroom parfait at Fallow, the pastries at Ottolenghi Marylebone, and the pita orecchiette at Rovi.

We really enjoyed Holland Park, which was just a few minutes from our place.

We met a very kind man named Zak and his very sweet (and apparently famous) parrot, Koko. Zak told us that he has been looking after the birds of Holland Park for 26 years and seemed to know everything there was to know about the park’s peacocks and other birds. He explained that the park periodically brings in new peacocks and peahens, but that many have been lost to foxes and dogs. Zak and another couple who live nearby have taken it upon themselves to keep an eye on the birds and care for them. It was touching to meet someone who had spent so many years getting to know them and who cared so deeply about their wellbeing.

Kew Gardens was the highlight of our time in London. It was basically Disneyland for people who like plants. One of the first things we encountered was this Corsican pine, planted in 1814 and known as Kew’s “unluckiest tree.” Over its 200-plus years it has been struck by lightning twice and, as if that weren’t enough, was hit by a light aircraft in 1928. Somehow, it’s still standing.

And that was only the beginning. Kew has the largest collection of living plants at a single-site botanical garden in the world, including an arboretum with around 11,000 trees representing more than 2,000 species. There were enormous Victorian glasshouses filled with plants from around the world, giant waterlilies, an exhilarating treetop walkway through the canopy, and more interesting plants and trees than we could possibly take in. We even found a fox taking a nap among the roses!

The sign next to this agave read: This mountain agave has reached the end of its lifecycle. Triggered by the hot, dry summer, its now producing its one and only bloom - a 5 metre flower spike. A rare sight in the UK, we think this is a 1st at Kew. And the markers on the post next to it date its growth each day. This all took place within one month. 

What we hadn’t expected was how much art there would be. We were lucky enough to visit during Henry Moore: Monumental Nature, an exhibition of 30 enormous Moore sculptures scattered throughout the gardens, along with a gallery exhibition of his drawings, models, and smaller works. I’d never really appreciated Henry Moore before. I’d only seen a couple of his sculptures in person, but seeing so many of them surrounded by trees and plants completely changed the experience. The indoor exhibition also showed his sketches and the natural forms that inspired him, which helped me understand his work in a way I never had before.

Finally, we came across the work of botanical artist Rosie Sanders, whose enormous watercolors absolutely blew me away. I loved the scale, intense color, light, incredible detail, use of negative space, and the way the plants interacted with one another. Her paintings somehow manage to be incredibly precise while also feeling dramatic and almost abstract. I could have stared at them forever.  

We went to Kew thinking we’d spend a couple of hours there and ended up staying the entire day. Even then, it felt like we’d only scratched the surface. I’d love to go back in the spring someday and see the gardens when everything is bursting into bloom. It was the perfect way to spend our last full day in London.

On our last morning, we took one more walk through Holland Park. I find it a bit ironic that I travel to big cities and end up seeking out nature, but in some ways cities are exactly where you have to go to find it. Places like Kew bring together an incredible diversity of plants from all over the world, while old city parks are home to some of the biggest and oldest trees we’ve seen. Somehow, among all the buildings and people, these cities have preserved pockets of nature that would be hard to find anywhere else.

And finally, a walk down Notting Hill's famous Portobello Road before our flight.

Heading home!

It was an incredible trip, and we’re still amazed that it all worked out. We started our 100-plus-mile walk on our 16th wedding anniversary, walked the whole way without getting lost, messing up a reservation, injuries, and made it to Bath just in time to see our favorite play for the second time, the reason this whole adventure began in the first place. Somehow, we even lucked out with amazing weather in a country notoriously known for the opposite. We only got rained on one day, which was actually good because why else did we bring all this rain gear?

We saw so many beautiful places, met lots of nice people and had so many memorable experiences along the way. We’re incredibly grateful that we were able to take this trip, and equally grateful to be back home. The best part about leaving is always coming home.