Green spaces provide a respite from every other aspect of city life--and don't require a lot of green to enjoy (although I tend to like a glass of wine or an ice cream at a garden cafe after I hike and take lots of photos). In June I visited one of my favorite parks, Regent's Park (the fowl photos were taken there), as well as lots of Bloomsbury squares. The statues grace Tavistock Square, but I also spent a lot of time in Russell, Bedford, and Bloomsbury Squares and Coram Fields. Who would've thought I could relax with a book on a bench? (Well, it was easier because I was enjoying Caitlin Moran's
How to Be a Woman, which made me laugh out loud sometimes. Maybe that's why I always had a bench to myself.)
Of all the many flowers in the gardens, yellow roses are special to me, and these offered a heavenly scent. My grandmother used to tend her roses so carefully, and the majority of her back yard was truly a garden. Although her roses lived in Indiana, they had cousins in London.
For my final blog of this trip, vicariously stop to smell the roses, but watch out for bees and lady bugs.
The statue of Gandhi (above) invites followers to leave flowers in tribute. A tiny votive's flickering flame surprisingly provided a great deal of illumination.
In a quiet corner, Virginia Woolf stares unflinchingly at passersby; she once made her home near the square.
