Summer Vacation - Week 3 - Day 6 in London

It was a super fun day.  No tube stations today, only buses for transport so we felt like true locals.  We headed to Kew Gardens first thing in the morning and spent most of the day there.  Having lunch at the Orangerie and walking around all the fabulous gardens, palaces, etc. in the 330 acre garden.  This is were King George III stayed after he went crazy (yes, truly crazy).  They speculate he was bi-polar.  The palace is the smallest of all the palaces in England, but interesting none the less.

After spending nearly 5 hours at Kew, we headed south to Kingston where we met Aniela & Stefan for dinner at one of Jamie Oliver (famous British chef) restaurants.  We had a super great meal and even better conversations with friends.  It is so fun to catch up with old friends.  Today I was reminded that we have known each other for 23 years.  How lucky I feel to have friends all over the world to visit and catch up with just like it was yesterday.

Oh, and I forgot to mention in the middle of all of that we popped into a Monsoon store and found Lily the most beautiful dress ever!  Normally I would not have paid so much for it, but it was one of the prettiest dresses I've ever seen and has scenes from all over London on it.  This girl really has been a shopping queen here in London.  This is going to get really expensive if we continue like this.  Maybe just a few things in Paris.

Treetop canopy tour at Kew Gardens

 Feeding ducks, swans and other feathery friends in Kew

 Hanging out at the Park at Kew

 Kew Palace Gardens

 Palace at Kew - this is where King George III was sent when he went crazy

 The Beehive Installation at Kew

 They even had peacocks at Kew

 One of three glass pavilions at Kew Gardens (this was the Palm House)

 Lily loves the front seat on the double decker buses

 Kim, Lily & Aniela on the River Thames in Kingston (after dinner at Jamie Oliver's restaurant)

 Very old houses (circa 1492) in old town Kingston