Kew Gardens

Kew Gardens a gigantic botanical garden. It is the world's largest collection of living plants. 1 in 8 of all of the plants species in the world are represented here. It all houses the world's largest collection of dried herbs in the 'herbarium.' In 2009 it is celebrating its 250th anniversary. They have free walking tours of the grounds and we took one guided by this little old lady, who clearly knew her stuff and was passionate about the park. It was terrific. The park is huge and really has to be experienced to be appreciated. Pictures do not do it justice. We were fortunate to go on a 'mostly' pretty day with many of the flowers in bloom.

The wood carving above was done by a school kid and was cut from trees that were blown down in a big storm a few years ago. It represents the park and show several of the more notable structures.

And it also is the home of the smallest of the 16 royal palaces, Kew Palace. (which we didn't go in- why bother? We have our standards. )

There is a Japanese pagoda. It is 163 feet tall, we are a long way from it taking this picture.

The have a greenhouse called the Waterlily House, that is amazing. The center picture is the pool in the middle of the greenhouse and those giant floating things are all one huge plant! The two pictures of flowers are also part of the same plant. Interestingly, the flowers are bright colors until a bee comes along. The flowers will close on the bee and slowly turn a dark red and cool off. think this lasts all night. Then the flower opens, and the bee, totally covered in pollen by this time loses interest in this dark colored, cooler plant and goes looking for warmer, brighter plants which it pollenates.

They have what they call the 'treetop walkway' which as you can see below, is exactly what it sounds like. It was great walking amoung the tops of the trees.

Below you see pictures of two of the older residents of this park. Remember the park is 250 years old, so there are some old trees. These two are on crutches.

MISCELLANEOUS PIX

In the US you could get arrested for this, in the UK they mean "potted plant."

Windsor Castle Tattoo

Well, we've now seen two of the UK Tattoo's - first in Edinburgh and now in Windsor. The tattoo is a marching band concert, but this one was a bit different. It had a lot of 'rah rah' encouraging interest in the British Military. Very picturesque, with Windsor castle rising on the hill behind the performing bands.

They actually simulated military maneuvers a couple of times, including a hovercraft, tanks and gunfire. John loved it!

The funniest part was mid-way when Rebecca and her friend Christine were falling asleep. (see the picture at the top with Christine asleep on Becca's shoulder) They brought out some cannons and fired them. The noise was deafening - that woke them up!

Wells Cathedral

Wells Cathedral is one of the more beautiful cathedrals we've seen, and we've seen a bunch of them. It, like most of them, was started about 1,000 years ago, but this one is in really good condition. Sadly we got there very late and were only allowed a quick look around. But as you can see, the exterior is stunning.

Glastonbury - The Chalice Well

According to scientists the Chalice Well has been in constant use for about 2,000 years. Despite local droughts, it has never failed. The legend is that Joseph of Arimathea brought the cup in which he had collected some of Christ's blood and threw it in the well, hence the name. The water runs a reddish color and is thought to have healing powers. It was named a World Peace Garden in 2001. It is treated as a place of serenity and visitors are requested to behave accordingly.

This is it, note the interesting pattern on the lid and the 'offerings' around the opening of the well. There were also ribbons tied in the tree branches above the well. We saw one lady adding her own. The well has water in it, the water ran in a stream through the entire garden.


On the left you can see cups available to take a drink. We all tasted it, but didn't want a cup full - but I saw one guy who did. On the right you can see a shallow pool that people take their shoes off and walk in.

Glastonbury - The Abbey

Okay, you WILL NOT be able to top the stories / legends / myths that surround Glastonbury. In the modern world, Glastonbury is most famous for the annual Glastonbury rock & roll festival, a three day concert of all the top artists around. It is so famous that it is carried live on television everywhere in the UK. But it's the history - or at least the stories about it - that is so remarkable.

Here's some of the stories:
1. The Glastonbury Abbey says it is the oldest, above ground Christian Church in the world.
2. The original church was built by Joseph of Arimathea who was a trader who traveled to this area.
3. Joseph was actually Jesus' uncle, and brought him to the area on one of his trading voyages.
4. Joseph came back to this area after Christ's death, when he arrived in this area he thrust his staff into the ground and a thorn tree sprouted. It is now referred to as the 'Glastonbury Thorn' or the 'Holy Thorn' and only grows around that area.
5. King Arthur and Lady Guinevere are buried here. (yes, THAT King Arthur) Not only that, but they were dug up and reburied at the Abby in the presence of King Edward I.

Salisbury Cathedral

It is another very famous cathedral - interestingly not really know as 'Salisbury Cathedral' - when you try to find it on the map you discover that it is called the 'Cathedral of St Mary.'
Fact #1 - The spire is 404 feet tall, the tallest in the UK. As you can see, it is huge.
Fact #2 - They have what they describe as "probably the oldest working clock in the world"
Fact #3 - And the most interesting. They have one of the four surviving copies of the original 1215 Magna Carta (I emphasize original, because it was revised a few times), because one of the guys entrusted with distributing the copies after it was signed happened to work for the cathedral. They list the locations of the others, two are in the British National library, one in Lincoln castle. This is the most perfect copy of the original in existence. (no pictures allowed)