the roses of Kew

My favorite places at Kew Gardens were the rose gardens 

and the lily pond (saved for another day)

 I arrived at the gardens early and was the only person among the roses.

They made me crazy with happiness.

 They weren't tended to. Their entire life cycles were on view everywhere I looked.

I have no idea why, as other gardens were traditionally, immaculately snipped and shaped.

Of course I loved it this way.

 This was my favorite color.

 And now, of course, I want to grow roses.

 I have a couple of sweet and easy floribunda, 

but none of the extravagant colors, shapes, or fragrances.

London bits & bobs

Five days in London. Glorious weather--low 70's, just a bit of rain, so I spent a lot of time outside.
The river path along the Thames is a beautiful way to see the city. (Thanks to Petra for the suggestion.)

Riding the bus is another great way to view the city.

This is the only cat I saw in London.

English English.

Boot sales, wellies, lorries, elevenses, whip rounds
and summer tidys.

It seems a gentler language than American English 

where boots are trunks and wellies are boots.

Another peek at the glorious flower market.

The amazing food markets. I went to the Borough Market twice in five days.

I wish I could have taken some of these home to my sausage loving sons.

Kew Gardens. Deserves a post of its own.

(prepare for an abundance of roses and water lilies)

 Street art, East End.

Really my favorite thing to do in a city is walk.
See the various neighborhoods, watch the people,
look for the small things that give a place character.

Browsing the used books stores on Charing Cross.
(Here, gifts for the son who loves classic mysteries
and the one who loves language and politics.)

A Turner sky

and a Turner painting, at the fantastic Tate Modern,

which also deserves its own post

(maybe on the other blog).

Best sign ever.

London flower market

I slipped off for a long weekend in London.

The Columbia Road Flower Market stole my heart.

A narrow charming street in London's East End

packed with flowers.

The call of "Two for a fiver" and "Three for a tenner"

echoing down the street

                                                        like a choir in a cathedral of flowers.

I agonized over what to buy, to brighten my hotel room,

and settled on purple stock, yellow freesias, and thistles.

Three for a tenner.

Great people watching too.

The sight of all those flowers made me giddy, 

but watching the interactions, choices, conversations,

listening to the wonderful range of accents

made it that much better.

 One day I'd like to tour England's gardens, flowers shop and markets.

Is it surprising that in a city of great historic sights and museums

one of my favorite things is the flower market?

What sorts of thing light you up when you travel?