Today I realized that at the end of every day I say the same thing, “Today was my favorite day!” It’s Wednesday night, and I am saying this phrase yet again. Today we ventured out to the quaint town of Kew and Kew Gardens.
The town was so cute with little cafes and boutiques. These shops soon turned into expensive homes. The houses were so cute and every one was slightly different in its own unique way.
When we got to te gardens, the first thing I noticed was how big the park was by looking at the map. It was huge! In the 3 hours we were there, we probably only saw about 20% of the whole park.
First, we explored the Palm House. It was so hot, but it was really neat to walk under the canopies of all of the trees. The best part about the palm house was the upper walkway. This walkway offered a whole new view of the plants, which was amazing. I really liked the character the design of the spiral staircase leading to this walkway offered.
Palm House
After leaving the Palm House, we went to the Temple of Aeolus. We climbed the hill and there was a beautiful view of the gardens below. This folly was nice because it was tucked away on the hillside and kind of private.
We then explored the Princess of Wales Conservatory, which I really enjoyed. My favorite part of this one was definitely the air plants hanging from the ceiling. In one area there were flowering plants hanging with their roots exposed above our heads. It was very interesting to me how these plants capture all of their nutrients through the air.
We explored the other gardens and went to the Orangery for lunch. While all of these conservatories were beautiful, my favorite part, above all, was definitely the fields of yellow daffodils. I was in awe of how many there were and how bright and magnificent their yellow color was. Of course I had to sketch these because I wanted to remember the pool of yellow spanning across the landscape. There were times as I was walking that no matter which way I turned, I was surrounded by these fields of yellow.
I wanted to capture the brilliant shades of yellow and green in my sketch.
I guess what they say about yellow meaning happiness is true, because these swarms of yellow flowers definitely brightened my day. Not only did they highlight the beauty of the landscape at Kew, but also were a highlight to my whole trip to London.
Surrounded by Daffodils
When I first started reading ur blog post I smiled like a little kid in a candy shop. I loved how you said “today was my favorite day” every day we have been here. I have been filled with a happy heart and joy ever since we landed in London. Every day is a new adventure and I enjoyed reading your post because you genuinely seemed happy and grateful for this amazing experience.
The town of Kew and the Kew Gardens itself were both magnificent. I also couldn’t believe how big Kew Gardens was. My proportions for everything have been extremely off which makes me even more grateful to see it. I would agree with you that one of my favorite parts of Kew was the Princess Diana Memorial part because of the hanging plants and the beautiful orchids. I love orchids! Also what I enjoyed was the tree house/walk way. The views were spectacular and really helped me realize the scale of the Kew Gardens. I enjoyed that a lot. Did you end up going to the tree walk way and climbing up there? It was magnificent!
I smirked when you said that you had to sketch the yellow and green landscape because it’s so true. You feel like you have to sketch a beautiful environment so you can never forget. The yellow comment I would completely agree with. I love yellow and I am always told when wearing my yellow jacket that I look like a ball of sunshine. I take that as a compliment and love that you talked about the yellow and happiness because it’s completely and utterly true.
Your blog post was wonderful and I read it twice 🙂
Kew was definitely a breathtaking site. I had trouble saying the Stourhead day was my favourite, because after Kew, I was torn between these two vast, beautiful and unique green spaces. While I got to see more of the park, I felt very rushed an overwhelmed in trying to take the whole of the scenery in. While the spiral stairs were aesthetically beautiful, for me they just remind me of the dreaded staircase leading up St. Paul’s, so a little bit of terror fills me now. While I didn’t get to go up the path leading to that folly, as some school children were blocking the way, I could tell that the view must’ve been quite spectacular, with a pathway surrounded by flowers leading up to the temple. I also especially like your sketch of the daffodils. From the start of seeing them while walking with the guide, I was enchanted by the bright colour bursting within the green spaces in London. Most of the flowers had not started to bloom, but I was always comforted with the sights of yellow and some purple gracefully sprinkling the grounds. The drawing was outstanding in itself, as I haven’t switched mediums from pen, because I didn’t think I could accurately depict a sketch with other mediums the way I wanted them to look. However you have captured the nAtural contrast between the surrounding and the daffodils perfectly in your sketch.