2015/2016 Three Continent Tour: Monday 23 May Romsey

We all left by car for Exbury Gardens at about 10 AM, arriving about 10:30 AM. Entrance fees were pretty steep, but the whole experience was fantastic. Weather was perfect for a change. We walked around the enormous gardens, and saw a fair portion of them, but they are so extensive that it would have taken all day to see everything. I love flowers, and was very impressed with these gardens, originally owned by Lionel de Rothschild . He bough the estate in 1919. The gardens are a special micro climate suited to rhododendrons. During the war the estate was taken over by the admiralty to revictual and resupply ships in world war 2. Apparently these gardens are one of the finest woodland gardens in the UK. You can decide what you think from the pics. There is a mini railway around the gardens, and we took it. However, for me, the most spectacular sights were to wander around, looking at the rockeries, ponds ( one had huge fish ) etc. We walked along the sea edge for some of the time in our long walk. As a Canadian, you really appreciate flowers like this as we can't grow flowers like this. The trees were quite amazing too, and Rothschild had brought in exotic trees from other parts of the world. ( see pics). It was such a lovely experience for us to share with each other and Homer, the Schnauzer , who loved the walk. Colours are spectacular as you can see.