Hello there,
Thank you for stopping by. It has been a while, I know. I am so sorry for staying away for too long. I hope to be a bit more consistent these next few weeks.
This month, my tenth year of being a resident in London will begin. As you probably know from my previous post; Migrant Child, my first years in the United Kingdom were more stressful and painful than cheerful. If we are being realistic, this is expected in life - there are happy times and there are sad times. Life is definitely not a bed of roses but we get to choose our attitudes through varying and often changing life circumstances.
What I learnt a while back is that experiences and memories are very important. It is beneficial to get out there and make new memories which become the latest addition to our collection of memorable moments and life experiences. Failure to explore new avenues and garner new experiences will mean that we are stuck with a bunch of yesterday memories with nothing to show for the present. The present leads to the future. If we keep gazing to our past without feeding our present, we stand to lose the future. So no matter what our past experiences have been like, we need to start feeding our present with ventures that transport us in the direction of the destinations we believe are ours to own and after a while, we will accumulate experiences that far outweigh the past happenings (good or bad) we want to shake off and move on from.
I decided it was time to start making new memories in London by engaging in activities I find pleasing to my soul. I visited The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and I loved it. What can I say, God created beautiful things and nature is very soothing. Green leaves, red roses, white roses, ducks and swans paddling in still lakes, fresh air and sunny skies in Richmond. Sea salted, hand made crisps in one hand and an overpriced bottle of water in the other.
It was a five minutes walk from Kew Gardens station to the Victoria gate entrance of Kew Gardens.
I stepped into the warm Palm House, a Victorian glass house with climatic conditions that support tropical plants and I was greeted by a banana tree. I smiled because it reminded me of Ile-Ife.
I then boarded the Kew Explorer Land Train for a tour of the botanical garden. The driver drove past the various attractions while simultaneously explaining the stories and history behind them.
We passed by some baby sequoia trees and I got super excited because 'Seasons' by Hillsong Worship is currently one of my favourite songs. I got down at the next stop and walked back to bask in some sequoia goodness.
The shade from trees provided a cooling effect, I looked up and saw a bench seat. I couldn't resist it; I whipped my book and started reading.
Xanthocyparis! Reminds me of Xanthosis; Akeelah and the bee!
The Japanese gardens were dreamy. Apart from flowers and vegetation, major features in Japanese gardens include small bridges and rocks arranged meticulously in the shape of water ripples.
Being an aviation girl, of course I did some plane spotting! I believe this is a Boeing 787 Dreamliner flying over Temperate house, the largest Victorian glass house in the world.
Great Pagoda! The dragon tower reminds me of Daenerys Targaryen.
... Because red is my best colour.
Visiting Kew gardens was super relaxing and I would recommend it to anyone who loves nature. I am grateful to my friend, Reina for taking my pictures for me.
Thank you for reading!
xoxo
