It is clear that we will never be able to fulfill my plan because we have little time to do everything I would like to see and try, but it would take several lives in such a huge city and not one long weekend. We had a little idea that we were in for a long day, but in the end it became quite unpredictable.

As we descended the stairs to the Rockmount lobby, two of the five dogs came to greet us for the first time, and I, as usual, didn't want to leave the house at all. We even noticed that one of them has a heart-shaped spot on its side.

Our first item on the list was to hunt for wisteria. Even though I love autumn and winter is full of magic for me, when everything blooms and the world turns green in spring, it is my favorite season. Flowering plants make me happy and are also a great inspiration for my artistic photography, which is why they attract my attention. All the more so when I haven't had the luck to take photos with them yet, just like with wisteria. In my imagination, I see a house similar to the one on the crow's feet, but it is overgrown with ivy and wisteria, in the garden magnolias, dogwoods, lilacs, rhododendrons, roses, lilies, peonies and hydrangeas bloom one after the other, and the house is full of medicinal plants...

A few interesting facts about wisteria

This plant comes mainly from Asia, specifically from China and Japan, and its cultivation began to spread in Europe since 1816. But there is also its American variety, which, unlike the Asian ones that bloom at the end of April and May, blooms at the end of summer, has about somewhat different appearance and is not so stretchy. Wisteria is clearly the queen among climbing plants. It is considered an invasive species because it is a climbing vine that needs a firm support. It grows to a height of up to 20 meters, has no problem destroying water pipes, gutter pipes, pergolas and trees, which it surrounds its victim like a royal behemoth. The funny thing is that the Chinese wisteria wraps around the support to the right in a clockwise direction, while the Japanese wisteria wraps around the support to the left in a counter-clockwise direction.

It could be said that she is noble, but untamed, even murderous, and I'm not just talking about destroying supports. It is poisonous to humans. It contains the substance glycoside wisterin, which is found in the whole plant, but it has the strongest concentration in the seeds of the flowers, and even two or three seeds can seriously harm children. The tassels look tempting and resemble grapes or bean pods. Poisoning is manifested by vomiting, severe diarrhea and abdominal pain, and the first aid is to give animal charcoal and go for gastric lavage.

But we don't pronounce the name correctly. The plant was named by British botanist Thomas Nuttali after his friend, scientist and doctor Caspar Wistar. For an unknown reason, he already registered the plant as Wisteria and therefore both names - Wisteria and Wistaria - must be accepted.

The largest Wistaria grows in California in the Sierra Madre, measures more than 100 square meters and weighs more than 250 tons. It has approximately one and a half million flowers during the flowering season. It is located on private property, which is open to the public once a year during the Wistaria Festival.

In 1894, Mrs. William Alice Brugman bought wisteria in a four-gallon bucket for seventy-five cents at the old Wilson Nursery in Monrovia and planted it near her home. Since the property is located at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains, the vines had plenty of moisture. Later, in 1906, she sold the house to a married couple, Henry and Estelle Fennell, who took care of the wisteria and let it cover the house, and people from as far away as Los Angeles came to see it.

The weight of the vines destroyed the house and the roof collapsed, causing the Fennells to build a new house north of the wisteria. In 1936, the land again passed into the hands of a new owner, Carrie Ida Lawless. She built new arbors and metal supports to best keep the plant off the ground and out of the house. After her death in 1942, her nephew Bruce McGill inherited her property and worked with the Sierra Madre Garden Club to care for the plant. In 1961, the land was divided between two owners.

Originally from China, this wisteria is over 250 years old and, given its size, is cared for by university experts and local gardeners. In 1990, it was entered in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest flowering climbing plant in the world and is one of the seven horticultural wonders of the world. It would be worth seeing.

Cycling around Notting Hill

We caught the wisteria blooming period in London just in time, because they were already drier and less colorful in the sun. You would find several wisteria-covered houses that are visited by tourists and travel bloggers from all over the world every year, we decided to find some in Notting Hill. In order not to have to walk through dozens of streets following the navigation to the given place, we decided to rent electric bicycles. It was enough to download the application on them according to the instructions, add data and a payment card, place the mobile phone with navigation in the holder and go.

Loro seemed to jump on and ride with the wind, while to me the frame of the bike seemed very heavy and clumsy, and at first it was a big problem for me to bounce back and get into the pedals. Sometimes, when I was panicked by the vehicles on my right and I turned the steering wheel closer to the side of the road, I had to do something to avoid crashing into parked cars. Although I felt stress and panic, it was a lot of fun. My dress and jacket were blowing, I was smiling from ear to ear, I was chasing after Loro and I didn't mind at all that we were going on the left side.

I've never been to San Francisco, I only know its hills from movies, but a few streets in Notting Hill towards our destination reminded me exactly of those San Francisco streets up and down, up and down again. The last hill was so very steep that we preferred to push the bikes out and ride, soaking wet but with smiles on our faces. We were waiting for the last two or three turns, when at the end of the street the most beautiful wisteria I have ever seen appeared in front of us. Its branches surrounded the entire house and the front garden, twirling around one over the other, full of fragrant purple flowers far away. You couldn't have taken better pictures than the ones we did because there were big vans parked on the sidewalk in front of the house, a courier parked there, and various tourists kept coming to the house and taking pictures. From the window across from us, an old lady was watching everyone from behind the curtains. Who knows what she was thinking.

In Notting Hill you would also find other houses overgrown with wisteria. The navigation confused us a bit, so we didn't have time to see the most beautiful street. With the wind in my hair on the bike, on which I had already found the right balance, I wanted to do nothing else but ride all over town. Cars, junctions, double deckers, dual carriageways and my clothes were blowing while Loro was shouting something at me from behind and I didn't care - we cycled down Portobello Road. I went so fast that the wisteria and pastel houses in the periphery merged into a rainbow.

We left the bikes at one of the stations and each of us paid about 13 euros for over an hour of riding. We were later advised to hire Santander bikes next time, where there is a half hour ride for £1.65. Just track your time, drop your bike off at the Santander station, rent a new bike and ride all day for just a few pounds. London, next time stick around…

We also walked up and down Portobello Road. It was full of shops and market stalls, antiques and jewelry, magnets, which we picked up by the handful for the family, but we were running out of time and the violinists in our bellies also started to sound. We were supposed to meet at Pankrác (as I familiarly call St Pancras station) with Ellie alias Girl in London. If you don't know her blog, definitely visit it. Also, her first book is coming out now, which Loro and I did a little work on, so I can honestly tell you that it's great. You can purchase it in advance on the Starter, thereby supporting its release.

Afternoon with Gandalf the wizard

"Where would you be if you were a river?" Ellie asks as we exit the tube to find Blackfriars Pier and take the boat. Fortunately, my sense of direction didn't let me down this time either, and we did indeed head across the convoluted junction towards the majestic Thames.

The second half of the day reminded me of the episode from the series Friends, when Ross and Chandler are supposed to meet an old friend, whom they call Gandalf the wizard - because we jumped on a boat, but our plan to walk down the Thames to Greenwich was not even a “pl” forEllie's spontaneous nature. Instead of Greenwich, we swam under London Bridge, jumped off the boat at the Tower of London, ran to my beloved St Dunstan's for a few photos of Ellie, we made our way through Londoners who go to a beer stand after work to chat, elegantly dressed with a beer in hand, standing on street in front of pubs like vagabonds and chat that you can't even hear your own thoughts at that moment. We passed through the city of contrasts, where squat historic churches are hidden between glass skyscrapers resembling huge crystals and diamonds, and we got through the security check to the roof to blooming wisteria, a pastel sunset and a bird's-eye view of the city.

I was telling Ellie the story of how Loro wanted to take away a glass of Guinness beer as a souvenir, although he changed his mind in the end.
I said, "I came up with a plan to steal the cup..."
Ellie shouting over the noise of Londoners debating outside pubs over beer: "How to steal God?"

Totally exhausted after more than 20,000 steps, riding a bike, sailing on the river and about a billion new experiences, we escorted Ellie to the train, and even though we dragged ourselves from foot to foot like zombies hungry for fresh human brains, we still couldn't resist the last walking through night London along the Thames along the Queen's Walk. At the same time, we still had a midnight one-hour double-decker ride to Rockmount. I don't remember how I took off my clothes and took a shower, I only remember the fragrant soft duvet, into which I dig deeper and deeper and fall into the realm of dreams.