A perfect Friday in London

Living in London for two years now there, we still have to discover thousands of places. That is one of the things we love about London: you get never tired of it. Last Friday the weather was lovely for the end of November, sunny without a cloud. Quite spontaneously, we decided to spend the day at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, which is in Richmond in the west of London. We had not been there before, but a visit of Kew Gardens was on our things-to-do-in-London-before-leaving-list for ages.

It took us not as long as expected to get there, approximately an hour (though we live in the south east of London), very relaxing. The way from the tube station Kew Gardens to the Gardens itself is worth a view. Posh houses, very British, very nice to look at.

Anyway, we finally arrived. And for all who haven't been there: the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew is the most amazing park we have ever visited! Beautiful! Even at the end of November totally worth a visit. It costs 12.25 Pound to get in, quite pricey, but with a 2 for 1 offer you have nothing to complain about. Here is one of our first views, the Palm House:

The Palm House houses a humid tropical rainforest climate with all kinds of rainforest plants. Something to warm yourself up (although the weather was very nice, it was very cold...) and to be amazed. In Frankfurt, Germany, we have the Palmengarten, which we really like and visited regularly. They also have conservatories with palms and different climate zones. But here at Kew, everything is on a grander scale and much more impressive.

The Palm House is one of the most beautiful buildings in London. The Time Out magazine quoted the Royal Botanic Gardens as one of the Seven wonders of London. We have to agree.

Except from the fact that it is a wonderful park and garden, it also houses an exhibition of Henry Moore sculptures at the moment (until March 30, 2008).

Sir Henry Spencer Moore (1898 - 1986) was a British artist and sculptor. Moore is well known for his abstract monumental bronzes which can be seen in many places as public works of art. He wanted his monumental sculptures to be seen within landscapes. The sculptures fit perfectly into the landscape of Kew Gardens and are placed (affectionately it seems) very well.

The one above is called Large Reclining Figure (1984). We find it very likable that the sculpture does not have any fancy name. This way you can imagine yourself what it intends to be. (A woman, obviously ;-) )

Usually, little D. is not very fond of modern art, T. only in some cases. But these sculptures are wonderful. We actually didn't know that there is "Moore at Kew" when we planned to go - a nice surprise. But see for yourself:

Draped Reclining Mother and Baby (1983)

Large two forms (1966)

Double Oval (1966) in front of the Orangery.

Oval with points (1968-70)

This sculpture is inspired by an elephant skull.

We couldn't see the whole of the Gardens, it probably would take several days. They offer some guided tours at the Gardens where one can hear about the basics in about an hour, which is very helpful. But we definitely have to come back. We haven't even seen the Evolution House! T. really wants to see this.