The Secret Garden

So i had arrived at Regent's Park by bus and i entered the park and looked at a map at the entrance with the usual "you are here"

According to the map Baker Street Station was a 2 minutes walk away. But this is only the case when you take the correct way. Which I, of course, did not. Here you can see where Baker St underground station is and also Chiltern Street where my hotel was. And you can see the way I took




Now all that wouldn't have been a problem but by then I really had all too human needs (hunger, thirst, in need of a loo!!)
The 2 minutes walk to Chiltern Street turned into a 15 minutes walk to my discovery of St. John's Lodge Gardens. There was this open gate and a sign explained this garden is supposed for the enjoyment of small groups of people and you should under no circumstances leave behind any rubbish (the green sign on the gate at the photo below). I decided i am a small group of one and entered.

The Gate

A pergola leads inside

At the end of the pergola, take a turn left at this vase

Once you are through this hedge-bordered lane you are in the Secret Garden

I felt as if i had stepped right into a fairy tale. Originally the garden of St John's Lodge villa, it is open to the public since 1928 and has been renovated to old splendour in 1994. You can read more about that garden online. I have been googling it when i was back at the hotel and basically everyone who came by it calls it "The Secret Garden"
I was wandering around the premises in utter amazement and excitement. There was no one there, or so it seemed.

Passing through an arch I stepped inside a circular place with benches and there was someone stretched out on a bench whom i had obviously disturbed in his rest as he quickly rose and sat up straight. I quietly retreated and left him alone.

Here is an overview of the garden's plan, that sketch was on the plate of the entrance of the garden. I added numbers to the sketch to mark the spots where i took the following photos.

The plate with the sketch of the garden's layout

The sketch with the numbers i added

The bassin marked with #1

View from the area marked #2 to the round area marked #1

The rectangular area marked # 2

One of the benches in the area marked #2

The lane marked with # 3 looking to the left upon entry

Turning right into the lane marked #3 leads to the round space marked # 4 where this flower bed stands

As i had passed this arch i entered that round space marked #5 from which i retreated after i had disturbed the man on the bench

Peaking in the round area marked with #5

The way back to the gate, the pergola marked with #6

Here a 360° view:

That garden was marvellous, beautiful and magical. The best thing was that i found it by chance and not by actually looking for it. Someone on yelp had written about it 

"This garden is a real Londoner's secret. "

Being no real Londoner myself i guess now i am in on "a real Londoner's secret" :) Somehow i made my way back to my original destination. Equipped with some sandwiches i bought and a bottle of cool water, i took a break in my hotel room. I had barely been back to my room when i realised it had started raining. I had been lucky to escape it.

The rest of my 1st day alone in London was spent by a fleeting visit to Tate Britain to say hi to Ophelia and look at some paintings before it was time to head back to Baker Street where i met with a friend from Germany who happened to be in London as well. That was such a perfect coincidence because we live pretty far from each other and we never meet in Germany. We chose The Globe pub in Marylebone Road. There upstairs Sherlock Holmes bar was open and that was the perfect place for us to enjoy each other's company, a good meal and some drinks.

So my first day in London was quite a success and filled with many impressions and wonders.