Bellarine Traveller: London (again)

Yes, I am still playing tourist in London and really enjoying it and still managing to use the tube system, much to my amazement!

Yesterday I went to Westminster Abbey and I really enjoyed that. One thing that did surprise me was just how many people are buried in the Abbey. I did know that there were many members of Royalty & the Aristocracy there, but I was not aware that people such as: Geoffrey Chaucer; Oliver Cromwell; Sir Isaac Newton; Handel (the composer); William Wilberforce; Charles Dickens; Robert Browning; Sir Lawrence Olivier – just to name a few of a very long list are all buried there. After seeing the Abbey so many times on TV, usually for Royal occasions it was an interesting and enjoyable morning.

My next stop was the Tower of London – this was certainly a busy place. The busiest I have been too – thank goodness I am here in the ‘off season’. The Tower of London was much larger than I imagined and it is an interesting place as so much ‘history’ has happened there. The Crown Jewels were spectacular to say the least. Walking around I was very conscience of all the dreadful things that happened there.

As I wander through parts of London I have found several small parks and gardens that are open to the public and used by many locals. Some are just tucked away in a quiet corner; some are larger such as Whitehall Gardens and Trinity House Gardens. Because the weather has improved many people are taking advantage of these outdoor spaces.

My latest venture was to get a train and go 35 minutes out of London to Hampton Court Palace. I really did enjoy this outing. Just going through rooms that were used by Henry V111 & Charles 11 and others was amazing.

For the next 12 months there is a wonderful collection of paintings on display at Hampton Court Palace. Many are of Charles 11’s many mistresses. The paintings are really beautiful and most have been lent from the Royal Collection. For anyone who is interested in art, this is well worth a look.

Listening to the guides at these places you do pick up some interesting ‘trivia’. For example – on the day that King Henry V111's 2^nd wife Anne Boleyn was beheaded, the King went hunting in his 600 acre park. After the beheading had taken place a canon was fired from the Tower of London and that was heard in Richmond. Then, another cannon was fired and soon as the King heard the sound of the second cannon he went inside the palace and announced his engagement to Jane Seymour who became his 3^rd wife!

Of course, I went out into the gardens and they are spectacular. At the back of the ‘newer palace’ (designed by Sir Christopher Wren), there is a lovely grassed area that has a lot of clipped Yew Trees growing there - some more trivia:

Several years ago, it was discovered that ‘taxol’ found in Yew Trees could be used to produce chemotherapy treatments for breast and other cancers. These discoveries lead to the use of ‘taxol’ to produce a synthetic drug we now as Tamoxifen which is used to treat many women who have had breast cancer. Apparently the clippings from the trees were saved prior to the development of the synthetic drug. It was also mentioned that Aspirin was originally produced from the bark of a Willow Tree.

The gardens are huge – about 60 acres in all, plus the 600 acre park. Forty full times gardeners are employed to look after the grounds. The Yew Trees I mentioned above only need to be clipped every 2 years. The gardens run down the Thames River. There is an extremely old grape vine that was planted in 1768 - and it is huge, and still produces grapes each year that are sold in the shop. The Privy Garden is the formal garden, plus there are a couple of Pond Gardens and an Orangery. The gardens and grounds are so large I did not get a chance to see it all.

Hampton Court Palace is a good venue to visit. And, yes another great garden to see.

At least I did not get lost in the Maze; in fact I avoided it for that very reason!