London, walking in Kensington and Chelsea, May 25

He Said:
In the vast metropolis of London, we walked a few miles around Kensington and Chelsea and then down along the Thames.  It’s a huge change from the relative solitude of the countryside of the past 2 weeks; lots of people, cars, bikes everywhere.  We paid a visit to the Chelsea Physic Garden located near the River Thames in the same spot where it started as a study garden back in 1673.  It’s odd to think that back then, this spot was considered to be isolated way out in the countryside.  Hans Sloan, and other hard working scientists through the years, studied what plants can do to help people to heal and prosper.  Many of the medicines first discovered by harvesting plants have subsequently been replaced by chemicals synthesized by man at a lower cost, but it was the plants that created these complex chemicals whose benefits  could be studied.  Besides medicinal plants, the garden also contained plant foods and some decorative plants as well.  The docent was very informative about the large variety of plants and discoveries.

She Said:
Lovely, quiet walk through the back streets of Kensington and Chelsea, then along the Thames to the Chelsea Physic Garden.  In the many, many times I have been to London, I have never been to the Chelsea Physic, so this was a real treat.  Though the weather wasn't exactly sunny, it was warm and pleasant - a nice day to walk around among plants.  Volunteers give tours, so we took one.
In 1673, the Society of Apothecaries started the Physic Garden as a way to grow and study the plants of the world that might have medicinal qualities.  When the garden was instituted, it was in the middle of the countryside!  Now Chelsea is firmly in the city (as evidenced by the helicopters and planes flying constantly overhead and the bustling Thames-side road bordering it.)
However, it has and will stay put. In 1687, Hans Sloane bought all the property that is now Chelsea for a song way back then and, being a doctor and a scientist himself (he was the genius who brought cocoa beans to England from Jamaica and figured out how to make chocolate) willed that the land that the Physic Garden occupies would be theirs, in perpetuity, for £5 a year.  The Earl of Cadogan owns large swaths of Chelsea now (Physic Garden included) and still leases it to the Society of Apothecaries for that same £5 a year.  Nice guy!
(In 1849, the chocolate recipe was bought by the Cadbury brothers, and the rest is sweet history.)
The plot is a microclimate within London, so many plants grow there that would not normally grow in other parts of the city.
The most influential document relating to medicinal plants was written by the Greek, Pedonius Dioscorides (no wonder nobody remembers him), while he was working for the Roman Emperor, Nero.  He collated info on all the known medicinal plants at that time.
All other Western records of medicinal plants added onto his findings.
And, a Dr. Miller, in the 1700's, wrote the first real garden manual that, even today, garden manuals are modeled after.
There are several sections to the Garden.
The Pharmaceutical Garden -
Even though there are over 4000 plants that are known to be medically beneficial, only about 60 are currently used for medicinal purposes.  All other curative plant bases are now synthetically produced.
This part of the Garden has plants that pertain to Oncology, Cardiology, Dermatology, Anesthesiology and a bunch of other ologies.
There are ceramic apothecary jars (modeled on the original jars used) placed next to certain plants that describe, in 1700,1800,1900 lingo, the way the plant can be used for cures.
There is a Garden of Useful Plants.
Sunflowers were planted at Chernobyl because they leach toxins out of the soil.
A Garden of Edible Plants.  (The basics - veggies.)
And, crazy fun facts throughout the Garden:
17th c. Plague doctors wore protective clothing with floral nose gays concealed in their masks.  They carried pomander canes, which were canes with aromatic spices in the perforated ball handle of the cane.
Pre-1750, plants were named with ridiculously long names (counted one plant named with 7 names).  After 1759, the new way of naming plants by only Genus and System was instituted and is still used today.
The Apothecary crest is a radiant Apollo fending off Pestilence (who looks like a bird-dragon).
We spent some time poking around in the greenhouses.  I did not know that the Jade plant is from South Africa or that so many plants' secretions can be used for poison darts!  (In fact, at the beginning of the tour, our guide cautioned us to not touch any of the plants as there were many that were highly poisonous, for example, a skinny, bare tree branch that secretes ricin).

We walked by the Chelsea Royal Hospital, the site of the Chelsea Flower Show (being torn down this week) and the home of the Chelsea Pensioners.

We walked over to Ebury Square and had a late lunch at Daylesford Organic Store and Farm Restaurant, a great place that I try to eat at whenever I'm in London.  The food was awesome, as expected.  R's beer (St. Peter's Ale) was organic and is brewed and bottled in Suffolk in a bottle that is a faithful reproduction of a 1770 flask-shaped bottle.
We skipped dessert because we were stuffed, really stuffed (I had chicken, asparagus and leek pie and R had salmon and lentils).

We thought we might get a tour of the Royal Albert Hall, but we arrived after the last tour had started, so back to our great neighborhood and our great hotel and our great shower.
Ready for Happy Hour..