Tag: Travel

Red squirrel on a bench looking straight in the camera
Travel

The Squirrels of Ruskin Park

Lockdown has definitely made me look for entertainment primarily in my local area and it helped me realise yet again that happiness can come from small, simple things. One of the parks I visited most often at the beginning of the quarantine was Ruskin Park. A small park in southern London, not much different from your regular city park. A big, grassy open space for picnics, a cute little pond, trees, flowers and sport facilities. But the natural inhabitants of the park are one of a kind.

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Dragon plants and pink flowers in Columbia Road
Home, Travel

Columbia Road Flower Market

One of the reasons why I love London is that despite being a huge city, it has a small town vibe as soon as you leave the tourist and business oriented central zone. My commute to the City (the part of central London with all the glass skyscrapers) takes only 10 minutes, and where I live feels much like a small town area. Short, brick buildings, local shops, green parks and interesting markets. One of such markets is the Columbia Road Flower Market.

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Kew Gardens - tall palm trees
Travel

Kew Gardens in the Rain

One of my very last trips before coronavirus lockdown was a visit at Kew Gardens, on the 5th of March. There’s a similar place near my home town, and expecting tropical, indoor gardens, I decided to visit Kew Gardens on a gloomy, winter day. Something I was not aware of is that Kew Gardens, as opposed to the similar place in Gliwice, consist of multiple buildings and outdoor spaces. Ouch. Yep, I got completely soaked. Totally worth it! However, I do need to repeat this trip in summer, perhaps after lockdown.

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Very tall, luscious palm trees indoors in Gliwice
Travel

Indoor Gardens – Palm House – Palmiarnia, Gliwice, Poland

Even though it’s summer and most days are warm to even hot, I never have enough of high, almost tropical temperatures. The forecast for Wednesday last week was relatively poor (only around 20°C, with possible showers?!), so because summer decided not to come to me that day, I thought I’d go and chase it myself. In the city where I used to study (just a 25-minute train ride from my town), there are indoor tropical gardens – or, as we call it, a palm house (palm trees don’t normally grow here in this climate). I believe it’s a similar place to more popular Kew Gardens in London, though I’m yet to visit those, so I can only guess.

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Exotic animal expo - crested gecko baby on a hand
Misc, Travel

Exotic Animal Expo – Weekend In The City

This is probably one of my favourite posts to publish on this blog, ever. I briefly mentioned an event I went to last Sunday in yesterday’s post. Here’s what I did that day! If you live in a city and often get bored on days off, this can hopefully give you some ideas – you may be able to find animal expos in your town too! These events often get no advertising, so you might have to make a conscious decision to learn about them. But when you do, there’s plenty to choose from! Even in my not-so-big city there are cat, dog, reptile expos every few weeks. An amazing way to spend a few hours on a weekend day!

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