We visited one of the most beautiful gardens in England this week -- Kew Gardens. We're so lucky that Kew Gardens is only a short walk from our apartment. Founded in 1840, but actually begun in the 1750's, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site full of history and natural beauty. The gardens are huge, miles and miles of paths to explore, with the world's largest collection of living plants.

 There are several large greenhouses, including the famous Palm House built between 1844 and 1848 . It's the first large scale use of wrought iron and every piece of glass is hand-blown. Another greenhouse is the Temperate House, the largest glass greenhouse in existence. Both are very impressive. We also walked through the Princess of Wales conservatory, a newer glass house dedicated by Diana, Princess of Wales. All the greenhouses are filled with plants we recognized and some we had never seen before.

After visiting the gardens, we walked home via the Thames path along the river, stopping at the White Cross for refreshing beverage. I've also included at the end of the pictures some photos of the road in front of the White Cross at high tide on the Thames. Due to the series of locks on the river, they control the flow at high tide by releasing water. It can really get deep very fast and people are often trapped by the quickly rising water. It recedes again in about an hour, so everyone laughs at the people caught by the rising tide.

Enjoy the pics!