Hello everybody! 

Hasn’t the sun been lovely recently? As places have been shut recently, I’ve bought myself some things to make coffee with, and I’ve been doing a lot of yoga! I was enjoying the sunshine during Golden Week by spending my time at Tsuruma park. I’m not that good at yoga, but being bad at something is the first step to becoming good at something! So, I don’t mind if anybody sees me fall over or look weird (which happens, a lot).

I love visiting Tsuruma park for three reasons: it’s local, it has a rose garden, and it has so many dogs! In England, it’s not very common to see dogs that are tiny, in clothes, or in prams - (in American-English, a pram is a stroller). Whenever I go to the rose garden in Tsurumai, it reminds me of an incredibly famous garden in London called Kew Gardens. Kew is known all over the world for good reason. Queen Charlotte’s cottage from the 17th century is still there, and the gardens are huge! It has 14,000 trees, an indoor rainforest, a treetop walkway, and even a tranquil Japanese garden. You can look at Kew Gardens here. I visited Kew quite a few times last summer.

Roses are extremely common in England – we love rose gardens! They are also our national flower. Did you know that during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the rose was seen as a remedy for heartbreak and even depression? You can make rosehip syrup, steep it in honey, or drink rose water! Rose is also a common name in my family – my middle name is Rose!

The next garden I want to visit is Kenroku-en. I heard that it’s one of the most beautiful gardens in Japan! If you have visited Kenroku-en before, please tell me about your trip next time I see you!