Today, my husband K, daughter J and I all were up before the 8:20 alarm. I have no idea why.
It was 52°, but felt like 50°. there was a mix of sun and clouds. So, we put on layers, before we left the hotel at 9:31
By 9:37, we were at our breakfast spot for the last time, which was a depressing thought. Zeit für Brot was crowded and we lost our usual spot. We were able to get the table in the corner by the window. I got my usual C-Vision and K got his Long Black coffee. J went with blood orange lemonade that was pretty good. Today, we got breakfast sandwiches along with our pastries. There was a mushroom and egg Stullentoastie, ham and cheese Stullentoastie, Schokoschenke, and Schokoweck. Delicious, as usual.
I also took the opportunity to take photos of some ads that I've been enjoying. Clever riffs on songs and the singers.
At 10:10, we ere waiting for the Northern to King's Cross, as usual. By 10:16, we were getting off at that station. At 10:19, we were waiting for the Piccadilly to Hammersmith and boarded one minute later. At 10:46, we got off and moved to the platform for the District to Kew Gardens. We boarded that one at 11:04 and got off, finally, at 10:46 with most of the train. It was now sunny and 62°.
We walked along a small town street which went from commercial near the station to mostly homes as we went along. I wondered how they felt about hordes of people traipsing past their homes every day. The homes, by the way, were lovely, if rather uniform.
At 11:35, we were finally in line for tickets, having passed through the Victoria Gate.
J bought her own ticket, while I got 2 senior tickets for Ł23 each. Have I mentioned why I am the one buying the tickets all the time? My Capital One Mastercard not only pays me cash back, but it also has no foreign transaction fee. Our Discover card is the same, but not as widely accepted in Europe.
About now, K confessed that his stomach was giving him trouble. So, we'd let him sit and rest, whenever it was necessary.
When we went over to the restrooms, as is our wont, I saw this great possibility for a shot with the bell tower.
We decided that the first thing we wanted to explore was the Rose Garden, which was behind the big glass conservatory. On our way there, we passed this odd greyhound sculpture with its helpful explanation. We know the name John of Gaunt from Shakespeare. I believe that Sir Patrick Stewart once played the role.
The roses were amazing! Even though it was not full-on bloom time, there were plenty of blossoms to enjoy. Many of the plants were just loaded with buds. So, folks will be in for a treat in the near future. Enjoy!
The bushes were bushier than the ones I'm used to here. There was much more foliage and they didn't seem to have been cut back.
K had to go sit on a bench with the Palm House behind him, because of how he was feeling. J and I tried not to linger too long, but it was difficult with so much beauty and that heavenly smell of roses.
By 12:42, we were in the Palm House. Like most buildings of this type, it held a lot of different tropical plants, trees, and flowers. It was humid and warm, but it was great to stroll around. We did have to work to stay out of the way of the small school groups, who had papers to fill out. The last photo is ebony, which is evidently black inside and out.
We were back outside about 15 minutes later and were immediately greeted by the Silver Jubilee rose. We also saw the precisely cut beds that were awaiting new flowers.
We thought it was best to head toward lunch. So, we walked along the Great Broad Walk and admired its Borders. Wonderful plantings and sculpted bushes lined the walk, with large old tree behind them. We could see the sculpture The Hive, which is to salute bees, up on the hill.
When we reached the end of the walk, the Orangery was to our right. That was a place to eat, and a busy one at that, but not what we had in mind. So, we went left.
I had wanted to make sure that we saw Kew Palace, or what is left of it, at least. Wikipedia notes:
Originally a large complex, few elements of it survive. Dating to 1631 but built atop the undercroft of an earlier building, the main survivor is known as the Dutch House. Its royal occupation lasted from around 1728 until 1818, with a final short-lived occupation in 1844.
Our path did take us by it.
There was a shop attached, which we explored before moving on. Along the way, we passed trees that didn't quite make a forest. There was too much room between them for that. Lovely ground cover, like this iris and bluestar, looked wild, but definitely was not. And, there were the largest holly bushes I've ever seen, all perfectly trimmed.
There was an incredible oak called the Lucombe Oak. I'll let you read about it.
What amazed me, beyond the size of the thing, was the fact that there were nurseries in 1762. It just seems like such a modern idea.
Anyway, very close to the oak was an installation called "Of the Oak". It was wonderful! In case the video doesn't play, I'll post a still shot. People had a great time waving their hands to make the bubbles move. 
After spending a good ten minutes here, we began to make our way out. We saw more tagged trees along the way, including a bit of Florida- a swamp cypress. I also just loved the twisting in the second tree.
We stopped at the shop at the front after hitting the restrooms again. The shop really leaned toward being a garden center, rather than a souvenir shop.
We left the garden at 3:11 and, once I was across the street, I could get a clear shot of the Victoria Gate.
At 3:27, however, we were on the district to Hammersmith. 3:41 found us waiting for the Piccadilly to King's Cross. When we got off there at 4:08, we passed this sign.
J needed some things at Boots and I needed some cushioning to save my feet from the top of the arches of my orthotics. So, we headed there and were there at 4:20. We decided to pick up some of their meal deals for dinner, while we were there. K also had me get the one medication that I didn't have, imodium.
Leaving there at 4:42, we went to Zeit für Brot to get breakfast for tomorrow. We will be leaving before they open.
Back in the room at 4:55, we ate the food from Boots and some chocolate from Kew Gardens and changed for the evening.
Not as pressed for time tonight, we headed for the tube, when we left the hotel at 6:14. At 6:22, we were waiting at Angel for the Northern to Euston. We were off of that at 6:28 and headed for the Northern southbound to Waterloo, reaching the platform in four minutes. We were onboard one minute later and off at 6:45.
When we got to street level, we found that the Waterloo Station for trains was across the street. We also found a marvelous painting of Paddington Bear for his newest movie.
We had a bit of trouble with the GPS directions, but eventually we found a sign for our play as we neared the National Theatre.
On the Thames side of the building, we found a statue of the founder of the National Theatre, Sir Laurence Olivier, in the role of Hamlet. It was interesting to see how many famous names we recognized who had contributed to the statue.
It was a lovely evening and we could see all the way to St. Paul's on our right. The Waterloo Bridge was next to us and we could peer under it to see the railway bridge.
At 7:02, we were inside the building, as were a lot of people, as there were two plays tonight. J and I saw the shoppe and made a beeline for it. They had bound scripts of lots of plays, as well as bric-a-brac. I found a couple of pins and the program, before we hurried off to use the restroom before the 7:30 start in the Lyttleton Theatre.
The play tonight intrigued us because Stephen Sondheim had done the music and lyrics and we'd never heard of it before. Just last December, we'd seen his Merrily We Roll Along. So, we decided to continue seeing unfamiliar works of his. It didn't hurt that we knew Jesse Tyler Ferguson from Modern Family and Jane Krakowski from 30 Rock. I realized at intermission that I knew Martha Plimpton from something, too. Those folks on the stage just kept cleaning it before the play.
At intermission, I got in the restroom line, but I had a few moments to take a couple of photos of this brutalist structure's more artistic elements.
The play was unusual but one of those things that stretches your comfort zone. At the end, I saw folks taking photos of the cast at curtain call, but I wasn't fast enough. I just got Jesse and Martha's backs.
At 10, as we were leaving in the horde, I got another shot of more of the architecture.
At 10:08, we were waiting in Waterloo for the Northern to Euston. At 10:09, we boarded and were off 10 minutes later. At 10:22, we reached the platform for the Northern to Angel and we just missed a train. However, we caught the next one 5 minutes later. The trip to Angel was only 4 minutes.
At 10:42, we reached our room, having made the relatively quite back to the hotel in 53° that felt like 50° weather.
We finished up our packing and K and J were in bed long before I turned in at 1.
My phone clocked 14,549 steps for 5.6 miles and claims I climbed 13 floors.
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