Trip to Europe part 5: Homebound

On our last day in Europe we got up, packed and loaded the car. Then we spent the morning in Brussels city centre. We looked around some more shops, picked up a few last souvenirs, had lunch and then headed towards Calais to catch the ferry.

It was dusk as we headed across the English Channel and home bound. The sunset from the viewpoint on the ferry was beautiful and the water crashed again the sides creating artistic foamy waves. The great White Cliffs of Dover were a welcome sight. I really enjoyed my trip to the various countries in Europe, saw and experienced lots, but there’s nothing quite like home is there.

Sea and sea foam on the waves

Sunset on the English Channel

White cliffs of Dover at dusk

Colours of Spring

I love walking around and seeing all the flowers that awaken in Spring. All the different colours and shapes are beautiful in their own unique way. I came across these bushes with wonderful, vibrant colours and just had to take a closer look.

pink yellow and orange flowers in bushes

I love how the flowers have an ombre effect and have touches of difffernt colours.

pink and orange flowers

Seeing all the bright colours makes my walk in the park all the more relaxing and enjoyable I find.

Norfolk Tulip Fields

I’ve always wanted to visit the tulips fields in the Netherlands (Holland), as these are some of my favourite flowers, but in it’s stead I was able to visit some tulip fields in Norfolk. They are only open to the public for a couple of weeks and my sister was lucky enough to get some tickets for us.

There were several fields full of tulips, with rows and rows of various colours. They really were beautiful to see.

I love how block colours had sprinklings of others. And I also like the ones that looked almost hybrid, colours varying and also shapes.

We spent a couple of hours walking among the rows taking in the sight and then relaxing on one of the nearby hay bales that were dotted about the field

It was a really lovely to take in the vibrant colours of the beautiful flowers and to visit a place that you wouldn’t imagine would exist in the UK.

RHS Garden Hyde Hall

It was really hot and sunny in the UK recently so to make the most of it my family and I wanted a day out. The place we chose was RHS Garden Hyde Hall, which is an outdoor space with various types of gardens.

There were so many different types of plants and flowers, some I’d never seen before and most that I’d never be able to name. We started off looking at a little garden that had a variety of flowers, my favourites were the huge, eye catching, red poppies. I’ve never seen them that size before.

We then walked down to the fish pond that also had water lilies.

As it getting quite hot, we stopped for ice cream and a little rest. Nearby was a dry garden that overlooked the far reaching green hills below.

We walked on and saw beautiful flowers wherever we looked. It was amazing to see such a variety of flowers in every shape and colour you could imagine. Although I seem to be drawn to the purple ones the most.

I also spotted some light pink poppies, again I’d never seen this colour before and never in this size (they were about the size of a melon). Maybe there’s something in the water here.

We then took a path that led us to the Sky Meadow. Curious as to what this could be we came to a field full of wildflowers and a lovely calming view. I imagine the name comes from the fact that the sky meets the meadow and that’s all you see.

After resting for a while we made our way past a huge lake and a lovely green expanse which was lined neatly with tall trees and an interesting sycamore structure in the middle. The kids wanted to play so we headed in the direction of the play area that also had some fun animal structures .

The last part we saw was the Winter garden which consisted of foliage that would keep growing and survive the cold. There were some figures of leaves, showing stages of decay as you walked along, that I really liked. Nearby was also a pathway lined with hundreds of foxgloves.

We then made our way to the shop, where we picked up some lovely plants for my mum. My favourite being these Galaxy sky petunias that were quite striking.

The visit to RHS Garden Hyde Hall was a really nice one, there was so much to see and so many winding pathways that lead to unexpected spots. I felt a little rushed on this visit and the heat tired us out too, but I’d like to come back again in another season, see what else is growing and hopefully take it a little slower.

Winter sunset

One of the things I love in Winter, especially on a cloudless day are the amazing sunsets that I can see from my desk at work. The beautiful shades of orange and yellows that blaze just before succumbing to darkness always makes the London skyline that I can see in the distance even more enticing.

Autumn Vibes

I’ve had a lack of motivation to post anything lately, feeling like life is a bit dull and uneventful. Walking through the Olympic Park in Autumn though has really perked me up. I love autumn and the changing of the leaves from shades of green to the fiery colours of red, orange and yellow which shimmer like gold in the sun. I also discovered an amazing wall of red leaves and some unusual mushrooms sprouting up which was a fun find.