London Trip: Part 7, Kew Gardens

Monday morning we drove from South Hampton to London to see the Kew Gardens.  This is the place that has the world's largest collection of living plants.

On the way, we were delayed.  Traffic came to a complete stop.  It seemed like we sat a long time.  Three or four emergency vehicles came flying by with their loud sirens.  Jay asked a man who had gotten out of the vehicle transporting cars if he had an idea how long our stop on the freeway would be.  He told Jay he thought it would be two hours because there were so many emergency vehicles (sigh).  What do you do in that situation?  You read Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol."

The wait turned out to be about 40 minutes.  I'm glad it wasn't two hours.

Here we are moving right along on the way to Kew Gardens.

This is us stopped.  All cars turned off engines and waited.

Jay read a chapter from A Christmas Carol.

Traffic has dispersed and we are moving on again (thankfully!).

Here are some pics of the lovely Kew Gardens.  As you can see, winter does not do it justice.  However, it was still beautiful.

See all the wishes on the tree?

Random photos of God's amazing creations

Eureka! A banana tree!

Check it out.  Kind of cool, isn't it?

Emily's art photos.

more strange roots!

Don't mess with this fellow.  He was kind of cranky.

See the pagoda in the distance?  We never made it over to see it.  We had a rendevous to keep with Harry Potter later that evening.

Here we are about to embark on the treetop walk.  This reminds me of a treetop walk we did in Australia.  On that walk we were able to get a good look at some koala bears. 

Jay and kids are ready to make the ascent via staircase (I go for the elevator!)

on top of the world :o)

looking down on the buildings

I keep spying the pagoda...it keeps calling out to me.

This is a sight that makes a parent really, really happy!!

The best kids ever!

Going down.

You can see there is fun to be had by all in the Kew Gardens.  Here there is a slide and merry-go-round.

On the way out, the lights come on for the evening visitors.  Some chandeliers in a tree...nice touch.

Christmas lights everywhere make a wonderful sight.

On the way out we see this lonely tree.  Good-bye Kew Gardens, thank you for sharing your treasures with us.