On Sunday Sam and I took a day trip to Royal Leamington Spa. (Colloquially “Royal” has been dropped from the town’s name.) It’s about an hours bus ride from Stratford, and it was a glorious winding countryside road.
I’m going to be honest with you, our main motivation for going to Leamington Spa was that it’s where our closest Papa John’s is. Since we moved to Stratford in the beginning of March, Papa John’s has been absent from our lives. The weather was nice, we knew Leamington Spa was a lovely town to walk through, and we knew that we couldn’t keep my Papa John’s addiction at bay any longer.
The weather held out the whole time we were there. We did some shopping and we strolled through the town, exploring as we went. Then we took a pause to order pizza (finally) and eat it in Jephson Gardens.
Leamington Spa Town Hall
The old spa and baths are now a museum (free of charge) and a library. My favourite part of the museum was the children’s room where you could dress up in Victorian costumes.
The old spa.
Luckily for me and all my blog readers I still can wear children’s dresses.
Queen Victoria visited the pump houses several times during her life and with her permission the town was able to attach the prefix “Royal” to it’s name.
Queen Victoria Statue, damaged in WWII
Bridge in Jephson Gardens
The River Avon and Leamington Spa
Obelisk within Jephson Gardens.
Obviously my childish mind laughed when I misread it as the “willies” column.
There are amazing carved trees all over the Gardens. One had a little niche carved out, so of course I had to climb inside, waiting my turn with all the other children. There was a Michael Buble-esque band playing a free outdoor concert while we were in Leamington Spa. So we were serenaded whilst eating pizza in these beautiful English Gardens.
“Sam, Sam! Wait! I want to climb inside this tree!”
I don’t know why he puts up with me sometimes.
A half-Gremlin.
The picture below was the most intricate of all the tree carvings. A history of the tree and the town at the same time.
It’s beautiful and weirdly smooth to the touch.
There was also a greenhouse in the Gardens, or “Glasshouse” as it was named. We didn’t stay too long inside because it was a million degrees and we were wearing quite a few layers.
This was my favourite plant inside the greenhouse. It’s called a pink powder puff.
Old tunnel through the Gardens. Me looking like an obvious tourist.
Sam has this amazing app that splits pictures to create things like this!
Things you must to in Leamington:
Explore Jephson Gardens
Walk along the Avon
Go inside the old pumphouse (now museum)
