This time I was off to Holland Park... only about 2 miles from home but an adventure none the less! Chris saw a special on Holland Park on his flight and mentioned it to me. I decided on Wednesday night that if the sun was shining when I woke up on Thursday that I would head to the park... sure enough, we had another GREAT day! I have lucked out on the weather front lately. I had sun on Tuesday for Oxford, rain on Wednesday for the plumber, and sun on Thursday for Holland Park... however, rumor has it that is all about to end but more on that later!
Holland Park is a neighborhood (and park) to the west of Hyde Park and just south of Notting Hill. It is a VERY expensive area to live in and now I know why! I adored the park... especially the Japanese Gardens. I only knew what Chris had told me which was not much so imagine my surprise when I found this...
A full out Japanese Garden in the middle of a pretty low key park. I was thrilled and imagined myself bringing my yoga mat here in the summer for a zen moment or two. It was pretty hard to believe that I was in the heart of London... all I could hear were the birds and the water falls. I was also very surprised to see that there were GIANT koi fish in the pond. My pictures did them no justice so I am not posting them. However, without exaggeration I can tell you they were about 2 feet long! Amazing!
The next amazing moment...
PEACOCKS!!!
Now, Chris told me about the peacocks but I had completely forgotten about them until I saw them on the hill. I think they were enjoying the sun more than I was and they were definitely having their own little zen moment!
This guy was more than happy to pose for me... I sat on the steps and started clicking away. He preened and flaunted his feathers for me. I was considering ways to get him to shake his tail feathers for me but there were about 10 people watching me and I didn't want to make any more of a spectacle of myself. After all, I nearly fell down the 3 steps I was sitting on when I put the camera down and realized he had walked about 1 foot from me and had a look of hunger in his eye... he was going to eat me, I am sure of it! Punk peacock!! Lucky for me I escaped certain death... or serious deformity in the least! I scolded him while on lookers rolled their eyes and laughed at me. I promptly turned around and told everyone I was a Canadian ; )
After the scolding, Mr. Punk Peacock decided he had had enough of the shutter bug and strutted away...
After my near death experience, I decided it was time to take a load off so I headed over to the Holland Park Cafe for lunch. I had a yummy (that was just for you , Laurie ; ) cup of parsnip and apple soup with a crusty baguette and a pot of hot tea. I sat outside so I could keep an eye on the punk... I was pretty sure he was stalking me. And he was definitely in cahoots with the squirrels from Hyde Park! It was a little chilly out but between the soup, tea and sunshine I managed to stay fairly warm. All in all in was a beautiful day. Once again I was filled with a huge desire for spring and summer to hurry up.
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