London – Kensington Gardens

One of the surprising aspects of central London is how green and leafy it is. The centre of the city has a large amount of green space. This has been preserved through time by various historical quirks. The net effect, is that you’re never very far from a very large park, tall trees and lots of grass. One of the best known parks in London is Kensington Gardens. It has trees, gardens, ponds and the occasional Princess here and there.



Kensington Gardens is the green bit on the map next to Hyde Park. In reality, it’s just one big park, but technically speaking, the Serpentine is the dividing line between the two. Historically, Hyde Park was royal hunting grounds, whilst Kensington Gardens was the private garden of Kensington Palace.

Today, Kensington Gardens is a rather lovely green open space. There’s some truly huge trees growing here and the grass is kept nicely trimmed. Roughly in the middle, is the Round Pond. This was once the centre of a very formal garden, but today, it serves as a private pool for the swan and geese that flock around the edges. On summer days, enthusiasts race remote controlled sailing ships around the water.

Perhaps the best thing about the park is the sense of isolation. Sitting under a tree in the middle of the garden, all you can see is other trees, grass and herds of tourists. The fact that you’re in the biggest city in Europe is neatly obscured by all the foliage. It’s a truly relaxing get away from the buzz of the city.

Apart from the greenery, the park is also packed full of critters. The most obvious and cutest are the squirrels. The squirrel that runs around the park in great numbers is the Grey Squirrel. It was introduced from North America and promptly all but wiped out the indigenous Red Squirrel. Conservationists are appalled by this, but everyone else doesn’t really care- squirrels are so damn cute!



I challenge anyone of any age to come to the park with a bag of peanuts and not leave with a smile on their face and a giggle on their lips. The squirrels are just so cute. They’re pretty tame too, so if you kneel down and hold your nut out, the squirrels will come right up to your hand, grab the nut and run away. So goddam cute! Growing up in a squirrel-less country, I’m still obsessed by these little critters. Sure, they’re nothing but rats with fluffy tails, but they’re so cute as they jiggle about running away with a nut.

Unfortunately, the squirrels know they are cute and can push it a bit far some times. If you venture into the area of the park I call “Squirrel Mountain”, make sure you come equipped with a large bag of nuts. If you don’t follow the rules and dutifully extend your hand with a tasty nut, the squirrels will come looking. I’ve seen them scamper up the legs of nut-less tourists looking for a snack. Sure, they’re cute, but as soon as they start climbing up your leg, all you can think about is rabies! Be safe, travel with nuts at all time in Squirrel Mountain. I won’t tell you which part of the park is Squirrel Mountain, that would be cheating.

Apart from the squirrels (they’re so cute), there’s also a bunch of birds to be found in the park. The pond has its usual colony of ducks, geese and swans, but around the edges there’s a lot more. Of course there are pigeons, but the starlings are nearly as fun as squirrels (but not as cute) and the crows can be quite mischievous as well. Best of all, in some parts of the park, if you stick your arm out with some bread on it and wait long enough, robins will fly down from the branches and snatch the food from your hand. That’s a pretty amazing thing to do in the centre of the city!



Apart from the natural features of the park, there are a number of interesting buildings in the gardens. Grandest of all is the Albert Memorial. This was erected by the grieving nation upon the death of Prince Albert, the wife of Queen Victoria. It’s a gargantuan monument right in front of the Royal Albert Hall. It’s very grandiose, but perhaps fitting for a man who had such a huge influence on the country.

There’s also a few smaller monuments dotted about the park. There’s a band stand, a fairy tree, as well as a rather large childrens’ playground. It’s so popular in summer, that people actually queue to get in. At one stage, the locals tried to ban visitor’s children from using it, but luckily that was defeated – bloody snobs.

The most obvious feature of Kensington Gardens is obviously Kensington Palace. This is the former home of Princess Diana after her divorce from Prince Charles. It was also the home of the Queen’s sister, Princess Margaret. Presently, it houses a whole gaggle of C list royals not posh enough to have their own palace. I’ll write more about it in a separate entry.

Kensington Gardens is one of the true wonders of London. It’s huge, it’s green and it’s full to the gills of interesting stuff to look at. Best of all, it’s free!