Smeared Type

My wife and I are making our annual pilgrimage to London to see family and friends.  We’ve just arrived to the warmest weather that London has experienced for the past three years.  The last two summers have been very wet and cool.

According to Londoners, they are now sweltering in a heat wave, the temperature having soared to the mid-80s.  But when London is bathed in sunshine, it does bloom.  Not only the Royal Parks, but also residents’ gardens are ablaze with color and roses galore. 

This morning, I took a walk into Regents Park within which is an area called Queen Mary‘s Gardens, which has the most incredible collection of rose bushes – perhaps 500 different varieties.  They have intriguing names such as Savoy Hotel, Princess Alice, Majestic, and Ingrid Bergman. They are in full bloom and in the most glorious colors.  In the center of the Garden, there is a circle of posts between which are strung large ropes covered in climbing roses of every hue and color.  Below this circle of color, is a small lake with an Island connected by an arched bridge.  Throngs of tourists abound photographing the flowers, the elegant royal swans and ducks, and of course themselves.

Local residents as well as tourists are making the most of this glorious weather, picnicing in the park, gliding upon the Regents Park lakes in rented canoes, and quietly watching the world go by.

Over the past decade or so, London has become a café society and every other store appears to be a café, small restaurant, or traditional pub with outdoor seating, attracting workers in their lunch hours as well as tourists.  Dining Al Fresco is always a joy, and Londoners really appreciate the opportunity.  Despite the economic recession, the City appears to be bustling, and certainly this weather brings people out to savor the City’s attractions.  The summer season is in full swing, with some of the main events already completed – Royal Ascot Races, Henley Regatta, and currently Wimbledon.  These events always draw large crowds, having been established more than a hundred years ago and provide a beauty and elegance in an inimitable British way.

Of course, one thing that doesn’t change is traffic congestion, and in hot weather traffic jams belching out noxious fumes distracts from a lot of the beauty and interest of the City, but personally, I hope the heat wave continues, and I shall report later in the week on some of the other current attractions of the City bathed in sunshine.

Ellis M. Goodman, author of Bear Any Burden: www.bearanyburden.com