Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Living in a different country to where I’m from requires a kind of “duty” every now and then, to make a quick trip back to the UK and make sure that everyone remembers what I look like.
I’ve been living in Croatia full time for just over a year now, and I’ve found a comfortable 3 times a year does the trick, since the UK isn’t really that far from here.
Every trip to the UK comes with a couple of days for ourselves (where we can manage it), and this time we took the opportunity to head down to London and visit the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew. The day saw frequent spots of rain, so we spent most of our time exploring the greenhouses and seeing all of the tropical plants they had on show there.
Each room contained a fantastic collection of plants and flowers which actually inspired us to add more to our home, especially since being surrounded with plants brings me a relaxing atmosphere. Overall, it was a great day, and we took the opportunity of being in London to celebrate an anniversary in a couple of wine bars for the evening!
I have found myself missing my old home more and more, around the time of my trip back. But after spending a little time in the UK, I am reminded with all the reasons why I left. Dark and damp weather seems to affect my mood a great deal, and for the most part, the UK doesn’t have a shortage of that. Cloud covers the sky for most of the year so it’s constantly casting a shadow over the country.
Although I often miss the availability of resources, services… Things in general! The fast-paced lifestyle of a lot of the UK is sometimes hard to be around now. There seems to be an importance with fitting as much stuff as possible into one day, even if it means doing things that have little to no importance. The stress induced from this finds its way into the atmosphere and therefore effects everyone around.
Croatia may not be on the top of most people’s lists when it comes to choosing somewhere to live, but it’s definitely grown on me more and more. For now, Croatia is home and I’m enjoying it until the next adventure.
