Travel Stories: English Gardens Tour (12)

(This is the 12th in a series of blog posts about the English Gardens Tour I led from May 16-27, 2018. Remember that you can click on any of the photos in order to view a larger image.) Up today: Kew Gardens and our farewell dinner.

On May 26, 2018, we were all filled with excitement at visiting the marvelous Kew Gardens and some melancholy at knowing this was the final full day of our English Gardens Tour.

Kew Gardens is enormous and spectacular! This botanical garden is on nearly 300 acres, with plenty to see and do. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are colorful flower borders everywhere. The huge Victorian glass house which recently underwent a massive restoration including new glass all around. Then there’s the alpine house, Princess of Wales Conservatory, water lily house (where the above photo of part of our group was taken), the Japanese garden with the 10-storied pagoda, and the new Treetop Walkway, among many other wonderful areas to explore.

We began our visit with an orientation tour given by some very knowledgeable volunteers.

Even though we spent 4 1/2 hours at Kew, I could have used about 2 more hours on top of that. There’s so much for see and, due to the size of Kew Gardens, you need that time to get around to each area.

On top of that, there are plenty of places to grab a bite to eat: the Victoria Plaza Cafe, Orangery restaurant, White Peaks cafe, The Botanical, and the Pavilion Restaurant. And, of course, there are really wonderful gift shops: Victoria Gate, Brentford Gate and the Galleries gift shop at Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art.

One of my favorite areas to visit is the edible garden, including the Kew Guild Student Vegetable Plots. I love seeing the methods they’re using to grow vegetables so we always have to stop there.

The weather was lovely — a little on the warm side actually — but we truly had a wonderful visit. Here are some photos from Kew, then read on about our farewell dinner.

   

In the evening, we all got together for our farewell dinner which was held at Bumpkin Restaurant, which was just a few blocks from our hotel. We had the upstairs dining room and as I looked around the room, I realized how everyone had become good friends over the course of the trip. There were lots of happy faces and intense conversations going on about various aspects of the trip.

While we were eating dessert, I was pleasantly surprised by a gift from the group of a book on Sissinghurst Castle Garden. Each person in the group had taken the time to write a nice note in it, reflecting on their favorite part of Sissinghurst and also commenting on how it had been “the trip of a lifetime.” It was wonderful to read everyone’s comments and made me realize how well the entire trip had gone.

Each person was equally grateful that we’d been blessed with having such an ideal tour escort (Cosetta Zanobetti). She was very moved by the standing ovation she received and was a perfect fit for our group.

But there’s more: as I looked around the room at that point, I noticed how everyone was in tears. They were sad the trip was over and I’m certain they didn’t want it to end! Boy, did that warm my heart and it was all I could do to fight back my own tears!

So all in all, our English Gardens Tour was a roaring success. Most of us have since gotten together for a visit and potluck, and many have expressed an interest in another international garden tour. We shall see!

Many thanks to each and every person who joined us on this trip, and especially to Cosetta (on the right), who I am certain took the trip to a whole new level! Her keen organizational skills, knowledge of the region, and her delightful sense of humor really made our experience so delightful.