An afternoon in Kew Gardens

My best friend Carlotta and I decided we felt like doing something different and so instead of spending our day out shopping or going out for lunch we went to explore Kew Gardens. 

We were also intending on visiting the Wetlands Centre in Chiswick, to attempt pond dipping for the first time since we were about 10, but it started raining so we decided to go home and have tea and cake instead and save tadpole fishing for another day. 

Carlotta and I both having done Art A Level have National Art Passes which we used to use to visit the galleries we needed to for our coursework. These passes are also really useful because they don't only entitle you free or discounted entry to art galleries but also to lots of other museums, parks and stately homes - good to have when you fancy a day of doing something a bit different. So we used these for Kew Gardens and spent the rest of the afternoon walking round pretty much the entire park.

For some reason Carlotta thought it appropriate to bring her binoculars, not quite sure what she was expecting to find in the gardens.

The Pagoda

There are quite a few things to see and do in the park, one of which is the Treetop Walkway which has good views of the garden from the top so we decided to brave the height and go have a look.

Despite Carlotta having a minor panic attack in the lift on the way up we managed it.

There are also quite a few restaurants in the park but we decided to make a trip to M&S in the morning and have a picnic instead, which was nice until we were joined by some ducks, and then pigeons, both of which terrify me. Next time I will be eating inside.

Lottie being OCD and cleaning the table

We found a peacock on our walk to Kew Palace

Located in the park is Kew Palace, which was opened to the public during Queen Victoria's reign, it is the oldest building in the gardens and was home to Charles III for a period of time. The palace has recently been restored to show what it would have been like when it was lived in and as both Carlotta and I are quite geeky when it comes to history we decided that after our picnic we'd go check it out . 

On our way back to the car we discovered that in the gardens this summer you can now rent a rowing boat for a couple of pounds, however after long consideration over the likelihood of us capsizing we decided against it until it's a slightly warmer day and until we're wearing clothes we're willing to risk getting wet. 

Visiting Kew Gardens is a good way to spend an afternoon and a nice change from the way we usually entertain ourselves at Oxford Circus.