Where: Kew
Gardens, London (England)
When: October 2016
My Adventure
Companions: Mr Map, Mini Monkey, The Giant Baby and Mrs Proff
“Have you ever been to Kew?”
As we only staying in London for a few days I had to think
strategically about adventures which would appeal to all the family. Top on the
list were the London Zoo and the Natural History Museum (both visited and
enjoyed) but sightseeing tours around historical monuments were out as I wasn’t
keen on testing the patience of a jet-lagged toddler. My mother, Mrs Proff, is
a keen gardener and may have mentioned one or two times (or more) that the
Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew are amazing. Me being me, had not really paid it
much attention until now. When I planned to visit there with the MAP family, she jumped at the chance to show
us around so we all bundled onto the tube and headed down to Kew.
It started to drizzle* just as we arrived so Mrs Proff
suggested that we visit the glasshouses. The first one we arrived at was the
Palm House. This iconic structure was built in 1840 and houses a staggering
array of palm trees from all over the world. It even hosts the oldest recorded
potted plant, which is known to be over 240 years old. The greenhouse was warm
and humid and, whilst the grownups marvelled over the size of the plants and titbits
of trivia, Mini Monkey explored the nooks and crannies of glasshouse.
Our second glasshouse was the much smaller Lily House. What
the Lily House lacks in size it certainly makes up for in impact. I was blown away with
the view of Giant Lily pads and the reflection of the iron structure of the
glasshouse roof on the water. Mini Monkey and Mr MAP took a lap around the pond
looking for fish and (presumably giant) frogs whilst Mrs Proff and I took a pause to soak in the view.
The final glasshouse on our tour, The Princess of Wales
Conservatory, is the newest at Kew. The ten different zones in the glasshouse ranged
from a cool, dry Australian climate (oh the irony to travel half way around the
world to see native plants) to hot and humid tropical. There were more giant
lilies (still no giant frogs), fish, orchids, cacti, bryazoa and a host of
plants I couldn’t even begin to identify. One of the small side rooms contains
a fascinating display of carnivorous plants, including some which looked like mini
versions of the one which appears in Mini Monkey’s favourite movie, ‘Ice Age 3:
Age of the Dinosaurs’. I was slightly concerned that he was going to be
terrified by the real-life version as the one in the movie eats a mammoth and a
sabretooth tiger but he seemed fairly confident that they weren’t going to cause him
any trouble. After a brief inquiry, he was also very accepting that there weren’t
going to be any dinosaurs or any other ‘Ice Age’ characters wandering around,
even though we had seen some dinosaurs earlier in the week at the Natural
History Museum.
* drizzle = a very ‘English’ term for a light rain that is
often very persistent and can go on all day.
Website: http://www.kew.org/
Opening Hours: 10am
– 5:30pm (4pm in winter)
Cost: Adult aprox
$15, kids under 3 for free.
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