David's Diary: Sunday, July 8, 2001

Flowers In Hampton Court

Today we decided to make a day trip to Hampton Court Palace. To reach the Palace we first had to return again to Waterloo Station where we took the train to Hampton Court. It was a short walk across the Thames until we reached the Palace.

Hampton Court Palace is considered one of the finest Tudor buildings in England. Cardinal Wolsey bought the property from the Knights of St. John in 1514. As Wolsey became Lord Chancellor of England he celebrated by expanding the Palace which at its zenith had 280 rooms and kept a staff of 500 busy. When Wolsey was unable to obtain a divorce for Henry VIII from Catherine of Aragon, his possessions were seized by the crown (Wolsey suspected this was coming as he had already offered the Palace to the monarch).

Henry first used Hampton Court as a love nest for himself and his new beau, Anne Boleyn. He also added to the Palace, enlarging and rebuilding much of it. Unlike many royal residences, Cromwell reserved the Palace for himself and thus the Palace and its contents were preserved. Later changes by William and Mary by Christopher Wren are considered to reduce the effect of the Tudor architecture. The Palace is surrounded by sculpted gardens, including a central fountain, which are well worth a visit. But we didn't go to Hampton Court to see the Palace.

Flower Show

Sunday was the last day of the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show. Karalee's interest in gardening and the thought of a day out in the country made us choose the flower show as our destination. The flower show takes place just outside the Palace gardens across the canal that borders the Palace boundary.

The flower show is enormous -- the guide alone is almost 200 pages long. It seemed that much of London had turned out, despite the fact that it was cloudy and raining. When we first entered, we visited the British Rose Festival Marquee and saw more roses than you could imagine. There were competitions for tiny roses, bouquets of roses, multiple roses per stem, perfume from roses, and many other categories. Karalee paused and examined every table in the marquee, but the rest of us found that after the first few hundred roses one looked much like another.

We stopped for a picnic lunch, then continued our visit to the flower show. Among the many vendor booths were splendid examples of complete gardens. Names like "The Princess and the Frog", "Mediation Garden", "The Tales of Beatrix Potter", "A Family Retreat", and "A Swimming Pond" provide an idea of the variety of gardens on display. The "Swimming Pond" was interesting. It is an ecological swimming pool. On the edges are shallows with numerous plants growing in the water. In the center is a deeper section where you can go swimming. The high proportion of water plants filter and oxygenate the water keeping it clear, low maintenance, and chemical free.

Roots and Shoots Garden

The "Roots and Shoots -- A Driftwood Garden" made us think of home. The garden, designed by Marney Hall, was inspired by the beauty of giant red cedar roots imported from Canada. The natural planting of the garden reminded us of the natural environment of our home in Vancouver, BC. We continued through the show enjoying the numerous examples of water gardens, examples of hybrid water lilies, and an ice cream to keep the kids happy.

After the show, we walked through the Hampton Court Palace gardens. After walking around the outside of the Palace itself, we found the famed Hampton Court maze. This is a maze created out of hedges growing over eight feet tall. When you enter the maze you must negotiate your way through the paths to find the two trees in the center. If this wasn't challenge enough, you then have to navigate your way back out again.

Allen led Karalee, Kevin led David, and Jocelyn navigated on her own. We all found the center, but Jocelyn was the first one out. She had to patiently wait for over fifteen minutes before the rest of us managed to find our way to the center and then back out again.

After the maze we stopped at a local pub and had a snack. Then it was time to return to the train station for the journey back to London. After our forty-five minute journey, we were too late to do any shopping for dinner. So we went out to Montpeliano, an Italian restaurant (on Montpelier Street) near our apartment for dinner.

Shaggy's Signature

Today was the day for Party In The Park. About one quarter of Hyde Park was fenced off so that an all-day concert featuring 31 acts could be produced with thousands of people could attend. About half way through dinner, Jocelyn turned to us and said, "there's Shaggy who was performing in the park today". We all said "who's Shaggy". It turns out that Shaggy is a top name performer that everyone under twenty knows. It took some convincing, but Jocelyn got up and asked Shaggy for his autograph. This will be a highlight of Jocelyn's week in London and was a great way for us to see the end of an interesting day.