They say there are fairies in Kensington Gardens

I love Kensington Gardens. Out of the billion parks around London, this one is my absolute favorite. Could be it's proximity to the Serpentine, could be the amazing foliage, could be that the cutest dogs I've seen yet in London were here, but I think the main reason I love it so much is that it hides a window to Neverland. For those of you unfamiliar with the legend of Peter Pan (and I say legend, not myth), there are supposedly fairies who live in Kensington Gardens, and every time a child wanders off and gets lost there, the fairies find them and take them to Neverland (thus the name, the Lost Boys). In 1912, J.M. Barrie (playwright and author of Peter Pan) erected a statue of the child icon in the park as a beautiful monument to the souls and imaginations of children.

As a child, Peter Pan was my absolute hero. I read every bit of literature on him that I could find. Sequel? Read it. Prequel? Read it. Ancient myths? Read it. He's even mentioned in The Wind and the Willows, believe it or not. Then my junior year of high school I starred as Peter Pan in the school musical - I got to fly and fight pirates and throw pixie dust all over the place...it was AMAZING. As a freshman in college I got to meet the director and producer of the modern Peter Pan movie adaption, (P. J. Hogan and Jocelyn Moorhouse respectively) and chat with them a few times about their inspirations (I even got to see an old book full of research clippings and scribbles that P.J. used to put together the movie!) So with all of this history behind Peter and I, I was incredibly moved by his statue in the park. It all started here in London. Incredible.

(Kensington Gardens)

(I kind of think these flowers look like fairies, don't you?)

(Me as Peter Pan in high school. Such and unforgettable amazing role!)

I wrote a column about my experience in Kensington Gardens. To read it, follow this link: https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AZVSXqfrG_HhZGZnd3Juc21fMTFkYm01M2Rkdg&hl=en