A visit to Holland Park

London's parks are called "the lungs of London" and indeed they are. As I've mentioned (many times) before my favourite is St James Park in central 'touristy' London but I adore them all. In one of the world's busiest cities you feel like you are in the country...well almost....well even better than the country because when you get fed up with the peace and quiet there is always a coffee shop or a bus ten minutes away! My kind of country! One park I haven't visited too much but have fallen in love with recently is Holland Park. It is a little bit harder to find - in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea...ie: the "posh area". It is very wild in some areas and ornate in others - we will visit the Ornate area - specifically the Japanese garden known as Kyota garden. I can't find any reference to it on the internet but years ago I was told that if you saw your double walking in Holland Park you would die within a year. Luckily I didn't see anyone remotely resembling me!

So off we go! We get off the tube at Holland Park and start walking through a very elegant area.

Almost there - yes definitely an affluent area.

Let's have a snoop at Holland Park Mews - a row of former stables now probably used for holding porsches and beemrs rather than horses with living quarters upstairs. Definitely worth "a bob or two"!!! I would love to live in someplace like this if I was rich.

Cute tortoise sundial - put here especially for my sister who loves them.

Beautiful Kyoto Garden

Heron just hanging out.

Waterfall in Kyoto Gardens

Peacocks wander around the gardens

Kyoto Garden

Peacock gossip time - or is she giving him a "right bollocking"?

Stunning Kyoto garden

Kyoto Garden - do you see all the birds just hanging out?

Unique sculpure in the garden -the building behind has a lovely cafe for a cuppa and piece of cake or a nice warming bowl of soup.

Oversize chess board

Sun dial

I hope you enjoyed our visit. Holland Park is a little more difficult to get to but well worth the trip. It can be accessed on the London Underground (the tube) with a little walk - either Holland Park from the north (my preference) or High Street Kensington from the south.

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