A Day at Kew Gardens and Dinner at The Coach and Horses!

We ate another full English, still tasty, and headed for the Tube to Kew Gardens! We had to add to our Oyster cards, since the gardens are outside "Zone 1" (the heart of London), where we were staying, and it wasn't included in the unlimited passes we bought yesterday. It is no big deal, since we're seasoned Tube travellers, now. (Hee Hee)

Let me just say, from all the movies I've seen and English period novels I've read, Kew Gardens lived up to my expectations. I kept expecting to see couples in full regalia, parasols for the ladies, riding boots for the gentlemen around every bend of the beautiful walking paths. Seriously, if you have a day and want to get away from the crowds of the city, it's just wonderful.

We ate lunch at a sunny glass-walled cafe in the gardens (I really needed a parasol.) There were trees with plaques stating that they had been planted in the 1600's and 1700's. I could just imagine all the people standing right where I stood, over the centuries between then and now - So cool!

We made a trip out to a special vegetarian pub in Soho for dinner - The Coach and Horses. (It's been in business since the 1700's. What? Seriously? You could tell, when you had to navigate behind the bar and up small, slanted, winding stairs to the dining room above - Dangerous, but also so cool! I picked this place because I wanted to try "fish" and chips in London - Which is hard for a vegetarian, let me tell you, but The Coach and Horses serves "Tofush" and chips - tofu battered and fried like fish - AWESOME. Seriously, I defy anyone not to love that. We also had our first English ciders here - It was a banner day all round.