On my recent trip to London, I intended to have a lazy weekend. However my niece told me that her mother-in-law suggested to her a ‘trail’ which was really good for children. My niece took her advice and went on this trail with her friend and young daughter. The little girl enjoyed herself with lots of activities to do.
The book is called ‘The London Treasure Trail’. It is a little booklet for kids to find their way around London, sort of a treasure hunt. The places of interest in that book includes travelling around the Barbican and the Viaduct and ends at the Kensington Roof Gardens. There are a few trails in the series. You can see the details of the authors below.
Since the next day was a Friday, and my niece had to go to work, I decided to do the trail. One of the reasons was that when I was a student in London in the years yonder, my college was in Old Bailey. I used to pass by the Barbican, the Viaduct and surrounding areas. So I just wanted to see what have changed. I did not really follow the trail and I went by bus. I went to the viaduct and the surrounding areas have changed a lot compared to the early eighties.
Then I moved on. I was trying to read the map, and knowing me, I got lost as I took the bus to the opposite direction. Anyway, I noticed that the route looked different and asked the lady sitting beside me. She told me that I was going in the wrong direction!! Then there was this lovely young lady who asked me where I was from. It so happened that her mum was a Malaysian. She then saw to it that I dropped off at the correct tube station to take the correct train to my destination.
So I got off the bus and took the underground. It was such a log wait at the stations. The Line to High Street Kensington Station was not as regular as the other line. I finally got there!! I was huffing and puffing and ran up a real sweat.
When I went up there, it was worth it. It was such a tranquil area after all the hustle and bustle of getting there and all the road works on the way. The garden is at the roof top. The are several theme gardens.
There is the Mediterranean ( Spanish) garden, with fountains and palms and a cool red coloured middle eastern room where one can rest.
In the English garden there are archways and nook and crannies with flowers like roses, lavender and lilies.
There is also the an English woodland garden with a little bridge across a stream.There are swans, flamingos and ducks.
The gardens are connected by archways. In the garden area, there is space for outdoor functions There are also indoor function rooms for rent. When I was there, place was booked for a wedding.
There is a bar serving the usual stuff. Soft drinks are only £2.20 and a piece of cake is below £3.00. This is very reasonable and one can just sit out in the garden and soak up the scene.
The place is really relaxing. If you are in London, I highly recommend that you pay it a visit. And this Adventure Trail will keep your kids busy. It is handy if you are going to London with kids.
Here are some of the shots.
Hmmm…, I think my photo taking skills have improved a lot since my first post. I am just using my phone camera . This camera takes better pictures than my old proper camera. I did not have time to take a photo of the station when going to the Gardens, but I could not resist taking one on the return journey. It is just lovely.
If you enjoy my post and photos, please ‘like’ and ‘share’ with your friends and families.
If you have been to the gardens, do let me know what you think about it.
See you in the next post.
Penang Lassie
