Kyoto Gardens

We went to check out a Japanese gem hidden in the nearby Holland Park and had another wonderfully bird filled day. The Kyoto Garden is a small, but delightful, contemplative space tucked into the center of the Park.

A single loop wraps around and through a pond where a heron quietly waited for a chance at lunch.

Making our way through the rest of the park, we happened upon some other beauties:

And some pretty nifty art installations:

We meandered into the courtyard of The Orangery, an old palace turned events venue, where another heron was perched, just keeping an eye on things. We snapped a picture of the Holland Park Ice House (the conical building to the left):

We were taking our first steps to leave when a fellow with a brightly colored parrot on his shoulder approached and called out to (presumably) the heron. Turns out it was dinner time - he pulled a bag full of sardines and threw them out for the heron to collect. A short video: here.

After it had sufficiently dined, the heron found a new spot to admire the sunset:

Around the corner we found the rose garden where a few plants were still hanging on:

We found a bench to admire some cute pups playing nearby and to make dinner plans of our own . . . but we were hungry past the point of being able to decide on anything. By the time we agreed on checking out the Thai place at the Churchill Arms, the park was closing down and we actually got locked in! The first gate we came across was way too tall and rickety to scale but luckily the next option was much more feasible, despite requiring us to hop two gates instead of just one. After our masterful parkour, a brief walk, and a long wait for a table, dinner was ours!! We got some tasty little mini egg rolls to start, and for mains I went with a safe bet of Pad Thai with extra peanuts while K had her go-to of green curry. Everything was excellent - the perfect ending to a day out!