Saturday, May 18, 2013

Farmers' Market and Gardens

Today generally replicated a day I might have back in Oregon...
Except I did all of this in London. 
 
 My mother and I started the morning with a visit to a Farmer's Market.


We chose to visit the Kensington Farmer's Market.
Though it is hidden around the back side of a car park, it was extremely well attended. 
 
I'd guess it was smaller than the Lane County Farmers' Market I'm used to attending.  Nonetheless, there was a great selection of produce, food, and plants. 
 
The last think I expected to see was a large selection of apples and pears this time of year. 
 
After exploring the market, we walked down Kensington Palace Gardens road, one of the prettiest streets in London. It has a wonderful view of the Palace gardens, thus the name, and is home to many of the embassies located in London.  I wish I could share photos, but in this post-9-11 world, there are guards at both entrances and photography is forbidden.
 
I can share photos of Kensington Roof Gardens - it is amazing. 

It has flamingos for gosh sakes!
 
And it is a BIG garden.  I cannot imagine the engineering required to allow the building to support this garden with water features and full sized trees.  A pretty visionary idea someone had back in the 1930's. 
The garden also had some awesome views of the city of London.
 
From the garden it was only a short walk to Kensington Square.  It is one of London's oldest squares having been laid out in the 1680's.  This is a photo of the two oldest homes in the square.

And here's the garden.  It was private, so we admired it from the outside as we strolled around the square. 
 
A quiet, tranquil spot not far removed from the noise and bustle of Kensington High Street.
 
This is one of the side streets off the square.  I loved the geometry of the row houses first off to the right, and then in the distance on the left as they curve out of sight.
 
In the evening Mom and I took a walk to the west along the Thames River.
 



Part of the walk marched along the well-named Narrow Street.
 
At the far end of the walk, we had a great view back toward Canary Wharf. 

There was even some wildlife.  Now I can include a British Goldfinch to my bird list.  It has a most merry song to go with its cheerful appearance. 



13 comments:

Mary said...

Nice addition to bird list, you haven't said...is it cooler than your area....?? As I said I haven't been to London since 1978...we went to celebrate my twins 1st Birthday with British grand parents...first thing we had to do was buy knee socks and sweaters ( jumpers).....so much cooler than New England and that was July...love Row houses.

Cricket-bug Corner said...

Wonderful! thanks for sharing!

Ann at Beadlework. said...

Thanks for sharing your day Beth, I'm really enjoying your trip. The garden is so very pretty - Kensington is a very "posh" area of London.

Margaret said...

Oh fun! I'm so enjoying your trip so far! I bet you are too! :D

Anonymous said...

LOL Of all the things shown, the birds tickled me to no end. Such a wonderful time you are having.

Cathy said...

Love your photos! It's bringing back memories of our trip to London almost exactly 4 years ago!
Cathy
CraftyCat

Barb said...

I really am enjoying seeing all the sites. Imagine, a farmer's market in London. I also loved seeing the old homes and gardens! What an interesting bird!

Angie Burrett said...

Hello Beth and Mum!: I am so pleased you are having such fun in London. Borough Market is a great place to go too for fresh produce and atmosphere (Fridays and Saturdays would be best) and if possible try and go to the Chelsea Flower Show later this week - it should be amazing. But most of all, just continue to enjoy all that London has to offer....!!

Vickie said...

Thank you Beth. I am really enjoying this.

Athena at Minervas Garden said...

Thank you so much for sharing these photos and your thoughts, Beth--I loved the wisteria in full bloom, the market and the beautiful bird!

Karen said...

It looks like you're having a wonderful trip!

The Inspired Stitcher said...

What wonderful scenery! Looks like a grand time to me!

Melanie said...

I would want to go around and see if I could recognize areas that were in all the BBC shows I watch. lol
It all looks like so much fun, it really does.