The second London Park that visitors regularly see is Green Park. This is the place where on Saturdays and Sundays you can hardly move due to huge number of people standing outside the Buckingham Palace gates. The Buckingham Palace was built in 1703 and bought by King George III sixty years later on. It became a permanent residence of Kings and Queens after King George IV commissioned remodeling in 1824. It was "updated" twice more for needs of the court and their families. If you can see the Royal flag flying over the east front, you know that Her Majesty the Queen is inside. The interior of the Palace is open to the visiting public during August and September.
Adjacent to Green Park is St. James's Park. People can really enjoy these parks on Sundays when they are closed to traffic. Inside the park you can see St. James's Palace that was originally built on the site of a lepers` hospital. It is the home of Duke and Duchess of Kent. People are not allowed to go inside. Short walk from the Palace you will emerge on to Parliament Square and see splendor of Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey.
Another splendid park is Regent’s Park. Situated in the northwest of London, this park can offer you variety of fun and leisure. Inside the park is boating lake where you can rent a boat and take pictures of birds nesting on an island found in the middle of the lake. If you are avid lover of beautifully cultivated flowers you will have memorable experience. With plenty of chairs and benches around, you could just sit and watch the time pass you by. There is small restaurant inside the park but a cup of coffee or tea is very expensive. People usually bring a picnic basket with them. On the north side of the park is London Zoo. The park is also the home of Regents College with many foreign students who have come here for further education. Inside Regents Park is the biggest Mosque in London and during Muslim holidays it can become crowded and busy with traffic.
Close to Regents Park there is a small park called Primrose Hill Park. In summer many people go there to sunbathe or read the newspaper and gently doze off. It offers a nice view of central London if you can manage to climb to the top.
The last three London parks I am going to mention are slightly further away from central London.
The first one is Kew Gardens. It can be reached by the train and District Line of the tube. Kew Gardens is a legend amongst the parks. To see botanical wonders from around the globe you will have to come here. They store thousands of seeds. The glass houses full of palms, exotic flowers and shrubs will take your breath away.
Not far away from Kew Gardens you can find Syon Park. There are fairs organized by local people few times a year. This park has a small Butterfly House. Inside the building you are welcomed by the scent and humidity of a tropical forest. Hundreds of butterflies fly all around you and you can sneak a look at a day in the life of an ant colony. You will see how well organized these little creatures are and how they rummage through the forest.
The last park I want to tell you about is Richmond Park. It is HUGE. With a kind of wild exterior this park has certain look that will calm you and maybe extinguish the way we live urban life. If you go early in the morning with a picnic basket in one hand and blanket in the other you will have a good chance of seeing deer grazing and walking around the park. They often roam around in the summer months. Relationship between locals and deer has been long time established and deer became very tame. By the way, they are Royal property so if people are driving through the park they must be very careful and look out for them crossing the road.
London is full of parks and green spaces and it doesn't matter if it's just a small pool with surrounding trees or a park like the magnificent and slightly wild in appearance Richmond Park. They are all very beautiful and well worth visiting.
