
Spring Special: Bluebell Carpets in Kew Gardens
Yes, it is spring, and it is warm, and it is sunny. And it is bluebell season. đ Last week I spent quite a while googling the best spot in or very close to London, where we can see the famous bluebell carpets. After browsing through lots of those ‘Top eight…”, “Top ten…”, “… plus one” lists that all suggested locations far away from London, I bumped into the obvious: Kew Gardens! I’ve never been to Kew Gardens anyway, so this was the perfect time to make up this deficiency.
Biza, tavasz van, Ă©s meleg, Ă©s napsĂŒtĂ©s. Ja meg harangvirĂĄg-szezon. đ A mĂșlt hĂ©t folyamĂĄn meglehetĆsen sok idĆt töltöttem Londonban vagy Londonhoz közel talĂĄlhatĂł harangvirĂĄg-mezĆk guglizĂĄsĂĄval. MiutĂĄn egy rakat olyan “Top nyolc…”, “Top tĂz…”, “… plusz egy” cĂmƱ listĂĄba futottam, ahol az összes ajĂĄnlott hely több ĂłrĂĄnyira van LondontĂłl, vĂ©gĂŒl leesett a tantusz: Kew Gardens! Mivel itt mĂ©g amĂșgy sem jĂĄrtam, adott volt a tökĂ©letes alkalom eme hiĂĄnyossĂĄg pĂłtlĂĄsĂĄra.
Kew Gardens is very easily accessible. You can either take the District line, or jump on a train from Clapham Junction to Richmond. There is an entrance fee of £15, which is a good thing for two reasons. Firstly, this way they can make sure that the park is always amazing and well maintained. Secondly, there is no mad crowd around you. Will and I met two of our friends, Barbara and Dave close to the entrance of the park, and we were all ready to roll and take some photos.
Kew Gardensbe nagyon könnyƱ eljutni. A nĂ©pek több alternatĂva közĂŒl vĂĄlaszthatnak: ott van ugye a District metrĂłvonal, vagy pedig a vonat, ami elvisz Clapham JunctiontĆl Richmondig. A belĂ©pti dĂj £15, ami kĂ©t okbĂłl is elĆnyös. EgyrĂ©szt, mert ezt a pĂ©nzt a kertek ĂĄllandĂł karbantartĂĄsĂĄra fordĂtjĂĄk, Ăgy mindig gyönyörƱ Ă©s ĂĄpolt, mĂĄsrĂ©szt pedig ennek az összegnek köszönhetĆen nem kell megkĂŒzdeni az ĆrĂŒlt tömeggel. Will Ă©s Ă©n talĂĄlkozĂłt beszĂ©ltĂŒnk meg kĂ©t barĂĄtunkkal, BarbarĂĄval Ă©s Dave-vel. A bejĂĄrat közelĂ©ben futottunk össze, majd nekivĂĄgtunk a fotĂłzĂłs felfedezĆĂștnak.




Meanwhile, I managed to take this photography thing to a whole new level. đ
Mindeközben pedig sikerĂŒlt a fotĂłzĂĄst egy egĂ©szen Ășj szintre emelnem. đ

It is a well known fact that during spring mallards go crazy, and turn up in the most unexpected places, which must be an important part of their mating ritual. This time they suddenly appeared in the middle of a bluebell field, and they were happily posing for everyone.
Köztudott tĂ©ny hogy tavasszal a vadkacsĂĄk kissĂ© megzavarodnak, Ă©s a legvĂĄratlanabb helyeken bukkannak fel, ami valĂłszĂnƱleg fontos rĂ©sze lehet a pĂĄrzĂĄsi rituĂĄlĂ©juknak. Itt pĂ©ldĂĄul egy harangvirĂĄgmezĆ kellĆs közepĂ©n ĂĄlldogĂĄltak, Ă©s lelkiismeretesen pĂłzoltak mindenkinek.

We also found some giant bluebell-looking (genetically modified? đ ) flowers. If anyone knows what it is, just shout in the comments section. đ
AztĂĄn talĂĄltunk ilyen hatalmas harangvirĂĄgnak kinĂ©zĆ (gĂ©nmĂłdosĂtott? đ ) virĂĄgokat is. Ha valaki tudja mi ez, kiabĂĄljon bĂĄtran a hozzĂĄszĂłlĂĄsokban. đ

Of course, since this is a botanic garden, there were many other flowers as well, all in the middle of blooming crazily.
Mivel Kew Gardens nem csak egy ĂĄtlagos park, hanem botanikus kert, a növĂ©nyzet többi rĂ©sze is Ă©pp ĆrĂŒlt mĂłdon virĂĄgzott.

Looking at the garden map, we got very intrigued by this thing called Treetop Walkway, so we decided to check it out. We didn’t expect it to be scary at all, but we were wrong. The excitement started off with realising that the massive lift with at least 15 people inside (us included) was planned for 6 people, and a maximum of 450 kilograms. I think that was my longest lift journey ever, and everyone else seemed to be worried as well. Conclusion: choose the stairs! đ
A tĂ©rkĂ©pet tanulmĂĄnyozva felkeltette az Ă©rdeklĆdĂ©sĂŒnket egy Treetop Walkway (SĂ©tĂĄny a fĂĄk tetejĂ©n) nevƱ Ă©pĂtmĂ©ny, Ăgy aztĂĄn arrafelĂ© vettĂŒk az irĂĄnyt. Nem szĂĄmĂtottunk semmi fĂ©lelmetesre, de tĂ©vedtĂŒnk. Az izgalom akkor kezdĆdött, mikor 15 mĂĄsik emberrel egyĂŒtt a liftbe beszĂĄllva (igen, az ajtĂł becsukĂłdött közben) rĂĄjöttĂŒnk, hogy az csak 6 emberre Ă©s maximum 450 kilogramra volt tervezve. Azt hiszem ez volt Ă©letem leghosszabb liftĂștja, Ă©s mindenki mĂĄs is kissĂ© nyugtalannak tƱnt. TanulsĂĄg: vĂĄlaszd a lĂ©pcsĆket! đ
The next surprise came right after we reached the top of the walkway: that thing moves! It was like a canopy walkway, but a bit more stiff. Oh and the metal floor was full of tiny holes, so that the trees and the ground were visible. For me it was both an amazing and unpleasant experience at the same time.
A következĆ meglepetĂ©s akkor Ă©rt, mikor vĂ©gre felĂ©rtĂŒnk: ez a cucc mozog! Olyan volt mint valami merevebb lengĆhĂd. Ja, Ă©s a fĂ©mpadlĂł lyukain keresztĂŒl simĂĄn lehetett lĂĄtni az alattunk levĆ fĂĄkat meg a földet. SzĂĄmomra ez egyszerre volt bĂĄmulatos Ă©s kellemetlen Ă©lmĂ©ny.
Looking down the trees, we spotted two parakeets guarding a hole in one of the trunks. For a few seconds we could even see a tiny head and peak, which must have been a baby bird. After watching them for a while, Barbara came to the conclusion that they look exactly like avocados. đ
Lefele nĂ©zelĆdve Ă©szrevettĂŒnk kĂ©t ara papagĂĄjt, amint egy lyukat Ćriztek az egyik fa törzsĂ©n. Egy pillanatra valami aprĂł, csĆrrel rendelkezĆ fejecskĂ©nek tƱnĆ valami is felbukkant, valĂłszĂnƱleg az egyik papagĂĄj-gyerek. Csöndben bĂĄmultuk madĂĄrĂ©kat, miközben Barbara megjegyezte: “Ăgy nĂ©znek ki mint az avokĂĄdĂł.” đ
After all the excitement (and because poor Barbara was seriously suffering from hay fever) we ended up in the greenhouse.
Ennyi izgalom utĂĄn (Ă©s mert BarbarĂĄt erĆsen gyötörte a szĂ©nanĂĄtha) vĂ©gĂŒl az ĂŒveghĂĄzban kötöttĂŒnk ki.
Kew Gardens is huge, and one day is definitely not enough to check out everything. After walking around for at least five hours, we didn’t manage to see even one third of the park. So for us this is definitely a ‘go-back-to’ place.
Kew Gardens hatalmas, Ă©s egy nap alatt kĂ©ptelensĂ©g vĂ©gigjĂĄrni: a legalĂĄbb ötĂłrĂĄs sĂ©ta sorĂĄn talĂĄn az egyharmadĂĄt sikerĂŒlt lĂĄtnunk. Ăgyhogy szĂĄmunkra ez felkerĂŒlt az “ide-mĂ©g-visszamegyĂŒnk” helyek listĂĄjĂĄra.
If you don’t want to miss the bluebell season, this is an absolutely fabulous place to visit, but you will have to hurry up. They might still be there for another week or so. Have fun, if you go! đ
Ha nem szeretnĂ©l lemaradni a harangvirĂĄg szezonrĂłl, de nincs lehetĆsĂ©ged messzire utazni, ez a hely a nyerĆ. Viszont igyekezned kell, mert talĂĄn mĂĄr csak pĂĄr nap, jĂł esetben egy hĂ©t van hĂĄtra a virĂĄgzĂĄsbĂłl. JĂł szĂłrakozĂĄst! đ

