Kew Gardens

Photos: top The Palm House, Nash Conservatory
middle: The Waterlily House, inside the Temperate House
bottom: spiral staircase in the Temperate House, King William's Temple, in the Mediterranean Garden

Today's it's another scorcher, maybe 27 degrees? Anyway, not a day to spend riding the Tube or inside. As it's Friday, it's a great time to visit some of London's outdoor markets. After a quick look at Petticoat Lane [lots of flimsy clothing, tacky jewellry and cheap luggage] I visited the Spitalfields Market, which I expected to be like Borough Market, in another Victorian market hall. It's certainly in such a hall, circa 1876, but it's been completely cleaned up, and caters to well-heeled "retail therapy" types. Branding itself as "old" Spitalfields is a bit of a stretch. The stalls today were interesting, as on the 1st Friday of the month, they have what they call a "record fayre" where you can buy old lps, 45s and related paraphenalia. It's fun to visit, especially the clothing stalls, but I found it a bit fake, without the honesty of Borough or even Petticoat Lane.

I couldn't face the Tube in the hot weather, so I rode the Overground from Stratford [2 stops from Liverpool Street Station] to Kew Gardens, and the walk of 0.2 miles to the Victoria Gate entrance. Yes, there was a sign giving the distance. Foreign visitor magnet ahead! It costs £13.50 to get in, which is pretty high, but it's a justly famous garden. Despite the heat, I had to go into all the greenhouses. I started with the Temperate House, which contains Australian as well as North American plants. This greenhouse was still being refurbished back in 1981 when I was last here, so it really is quite amazing to see it now. It even has a collection of plants from Lord Howe Island, which is a volcanic speck in the lower Pacific, between New Zealand and Australia. All those explorers were big time plantsmen, and most of their finds ended up here. It's a botanist's dream.

Next a walk inside The Palm House. When I went it, not only could I feel the sweat breaking out, the place seemed familiar: all sorts of jungle sounds, including that of a howler monkey. It didn't strike me as unusual at first. I take an annual trip each Christmas to visit my Mom in Australia, so I seated myself on one of the soggy benches, waiting for the call of a Whip Bird. As it's school break, however, there was a bunch of superheated little kids tearing around inside, going positively nuts. What was up with them? The puzzle was soon solved. Kew is sponsoring a sound artist this summer, and on the hour AM or PM, they are playing recordings of jungle sounds from SE Asia. I suppose if you're not from a hot place where the wildlife is noisy and abundant, it must be very exciting to hear it for the first time. It was the perfect accompaniment to a climb up the wrought iron spiral staircases and a walk in thefrondy treetops.

Final greenhouse, which is just out the back of the Palm House, is the epitome of what a greenhouse should be: the Waterlily House. It was blistering in there, easily over 100 degrees in there, but the tray-sized lily pads are just amazing. After fogging up the camera lenses taking shots inside, I had to exit out to the cooler air. Outside, I walked the lawns past the various temples and follies located here and there, then the knot garden outside Kew Palace, and finally a stop for cold drinks at The Orangery [outside on the patio as, yes, it was pretty hot inside.]

A hot ride back on the District Line Tube. The Overground had conked out, basically, with some signal failure beyond Gospel Oaks, and a stuffy packed train from Victoria filled with uncomfortable banker types in their pinstriped suits. Hot weather stretches the facilities here. Over the public address system, a plummy female voice was rounding out her vowels and advising people that "in hot weather it is advisable to drink a bottle of water." No, I'm not making this up.

Saturday is Derby day at Epsom. When I exited the train, there were crowds of people on the platform. Men in suits and ladies in high heels, floral dresses and hats, hats and more hats. I'd seen a bunch of these when I visited Harrod's last week. Some of these wispy transparent little frou frou's cost over £200, as I'd looked at the price tags.

Cue My Fair Lady, folks.