Our final day. I bid adieu to Robert and Sally and headed to London to collect Steven and Judy. They had had a fabulous time, despite the crowds

Waterlilly House, Kew Gardens

(something to do with Wimbledon was drawing in extra tourists, apparently). With a few hours to kill before our evening flights from Heathrow, we headed to Kew Gardens – reasonably close to the airport and (hopefully) little risk of traffic hold-ups.

Disappointingly the gardens were being closed at 5 PM because they had an evening concert. Nevertheless we headed in to explore the sights. Alas the “music” system was being tested. I measured noise at 80-90 dB near the Palm house at about 400 metres from the stage. If I’ve done the maths right that gives 106-116 dB at 20 metres. The sound level at which sustained exposure may result in hearing loss is 90-95 dB. Exposure to 116 dB is certainly in the hearing-loss inducing range. Sadly, from pages on the web, it seems that 106-116 dB is in the typical range for rock concerts.

The Palace, Kew Gardens

The Palace kitchens, Kew Gardens

The palace in Kew gardens has been opened for public inspection since any of us last visited years ago, so we headed there first. Royal occupation of the palace lasted 1728-1818, including periods where George III recuperated from bouts of ‘madness’. It is an interesting place, including well preserved kitchens and a lovely herb garden. It is well worth a visit, but far from the opulent overindulgence we saw in places like Versailles.

Palm House, Kew Gardens

We explored the palm house, the waterlily house and the treetops walkway and then it was near 5 PM and time to exit.

More photos of Kew at https://goo.gl/photos/Sr9ZdA9soos18mTr7.