The timing of our trip was purely based on the BF needing to put in for his longer blocks of PTO at the beginning of the year, and this week looking as good as any other that was available when he was called. But, at a certain point (maybe March?) I realized I was likely going to be here for bluebell season, and being the wild flower geek that I am, I immediately started to research where the closest place to London would be that had a genuine bluebell wood. And it turned out to be Kew. Which was already on the BF’s must do list, which worked out beautifully.
And I was not disappointed. A genuine English bluebell wood is a sight to behold. (Turns out the difference between the Spanish and English versions is the Spanish have straight stems, and the English curve.) The Kew wood is around Queen Charlotte’s Cottage, in a back corner I didn’t even know was there on my first visit.
We walked the crap out of that day. (K was working, so it was just P and me.) And then had a bit of an adventure getting back. We got back to the tube station, and the District line was at a standstill because a car had hit a bridge. Fortunately, when I had gone with K, my mother, and sister a few years back, we had had a fiasco trying to take the Overground to get to Kew. So I knew that line was available, and only involved one train change. It’s technically a longer ride, but I’m sure we beat the other tourists back to the center of London.
That night, we went and saw Marcus Brigstocke, a comedian I am only familiar with because K turned us onto the Now Show (BBC Radio, available as a podcast). He was literally hiding under the card table on the stage at the start, which ended up being a great tie in to the rest of the show. Really enjoyed it, and would never have been able to see him over here.