Holland Park

Note:  Somehow this post was never published so while we work on this weekend's updates, here it is.  One of the great things about seeing this drafted post is realizing how much greener everything is here right now. Spring is here!

On one of my weekend walks while Bill was away I discovered Holland Park.  I love the parks of London - they have big open green spaces, paths for cycling, and small little stone nooks.  They seemed well thought through to give people what they need from a park - a place to play ball and fly kites as well as a place to sit with a book or have a semi secluded picnic.  Most of them have public toilets that are free but actually clean.  You can drink in the park but I've never seen anyone drunk.  This seems like the way to do a park.  Paris has dusty parks that no one would play in - instead they play on the concrete by the river.  Score one for London.

I was really surprised that there was a designated dog toilet in the park - - isn't that what a park IS?   But note that even the dog toilet is relatively clean.

I tend to be drawn to all the garden areas of the park.  You go through a doorway and find yourself in a little outdoor room that is centered around a plot of flowers or a fountain.

Like many of London's parks, this was once part of an estate.  The grounds were sold off piece by piece to create the neighborhood that now surrounds it.  The house itself was bombed during WWII and the remains are the backdrop for an open air theater that performs opera in the summer.  

This one little rose was a little early.  There is hope for spring yet!

Unlike many other parks I've been in here, there was even a wooded area - nothing you could get lost in but beautiful to walk through to get to the tube.  

Final fun fact for Chris - according to the all-knowing wikipedia, As TIme Goes By was set in the neighborhood of Holland Park!