We spent today with Vicki and had a lot of fun. We had a leisurely morning feeding the geese in the canals as we drank coffee on the balcony and enjoyed the sunshine.
One of Vicki’s cats was also fascinated by the birds, but he kept a safe distance.
The battery appears to have died on my video camera, so Vicki figured the best place to get a replacement was at a camera shop in the new Westfield's mall in Shepherds Bush. We did not end up getting a new battery, but the shopping center was impressive for its size and the affluence of its shops. It is the size of South Coast Plaza or one of those huge Chicago suburban malls, but much of the shopping suggested Hong Kong or Dubai boutiques. There was an undulating ceiling with panes of glass in it to let in some natural light, but that was the only token nod to the environment.
Westfield's London is built like a huge fortress mostly accessible from the massive parking structure below. Transport for London - the new name for the regional transportation agency - had made a new tube stop, but it was not inside the mall itself but at least 500 feet from the structure. We had lunch there was a Japanese place with the fastest conveyer belt of multicolored sushi dishes I've ever seen.
We spent the afternoon at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew in Richmond. It was a perfect, perfect day and the flowers were in full bloom. I was at Kew about 20 years ago on a rainy May day. I was not much into plants at the time, and I do not remember being all that impressed. Yesterday was completely different. There is such an amazing variety of beautiful plants here.
Besides taking pictures of plants, we had a lot of fun taking pictures of ourselves and each other.
One picture I did not take was of the tree in a cage! It is an Australian tree thought to have been extinct for 200 million years or something. As a Millennium Seed Bank site Kew is helping to grow some samples to revive the species. There are lots of kid-friendly exhibits as well: this would be a fun place for a field trip, er, "school journey."
Jerry, Vicki's husband, came home this evening. He's working in Leeds during the week where he stays at a small bed and breakfast which he says reminds him of an updated version of Fawlty Towers. Since he grew up in Belgium and northern France, he helped us plan out next week's adventure in Normandy.
