Springtime in London: From Regent’s Park to St. Luke’s Gardens

Ah, sun! These are the days when the winter chill starts to unhinge itself from the London air, the days when you still shiver in the shade but could sit on a bench for ages with the sun against your face. Who else has crossed the street to walk on the sunnier side this week?

Jorge was off this weekend so we decided to go out for a walk. We started in Chelsea, passing bright yellow houses, tacky pink flamingos and beautiful flowers in full bloom.

South Kensington was milling with tourists heading to and from the museums, pulling suitcases, wearing sunglasses and shorts or winter coats and boots.

(Speaking of museums, we just went to the Hermes exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery. If I have time this weekend, I’ll go back and take photos to share. It’s well worth a visit though. It’s almost like a funhouse for adults. Everything moves and spins. The set up is phenominal with an amazing attention to detail.)

We hopped on a bus to Baker Street where we walked up to Regent’s Park (past Sherlock Mews which I was excited to walk down until we passed it and realized it has got to be just about the most boring looking mews ever).

I don’t think I’ve ever entered the park via York Gate before, but I was amused by the gold crowns on top of the entrance gates to a grand avenue that led from the busy Marylebone Road to the Outer Circle that wraps around the edge of the park.

 “Life itself, every moment of it, every drop of it, here, this instant, now, in the sun, in Regent’s Park, was enough. Too much, indeed.”
– Virginia Woolf

We walked under the cherry blossom trees. It was a perfect day for it with one of the most vibrant blue skies I’ve seen in this city – hardly a cloud in sight at certain moments.

Besides Regent’s Park, the best place I’ve found for spotting cherry blossoms in London is quite hidden and right near our flat. Right now, all of the pink trees are stunningly full on Dovehouse Street, SW3. If you have a chance this week, don’t miss a walk that way!

We wandered around the park for a while, past the rose gardens where empty stems stood in the ground next to creative names on black markets, waiting for their turn to flower later in the year. We passed the paddleboats and the empty stretches of grass where stacks of green and white striped chairs waited for visitors. We saw screaming children, a pregnancy photoshoot and a bench of elderly couples all wearing sunglasses and sitting in silence enjoying the day.

One of my favourite parts was spotting the black swans – one in a nest and one digging around underground moving leaves and twigs toward the nest to continue to build it. Another bird was nesting nearby too.

On our way out of the park, we followed the Grand Avenue out toward the Regent’s Canal where we saw a houseboat being repaired and a teenager fall out of a kayak before finding our way to Great Portland Street and home from there.

We stopped in Paul for pizza and tea to take to our favourite tiny park which I spend so much time in when the weather is nice – St. Luke’s Gardens. It’s so cared for by green-thumbed volunteers and always looks immaculate no matter what time of year.

Right now, there are colourful rings of tulips wrapping around the trees and cherry blossoms shedding petals on the pathways.

I decided that it would be a really great idea to take 5,000 photos of the tulips (I know, I exagerate) and share them with you, so here they are. Hope you like tulips!

We can all use more tulips in our lives, right?

And my favourite for last.

Hope you’ve been out and about enjoying Spring wherever you are too!