Messing About in Boats
Very, very occasionally (owing to the fact that we’re a scruffy and dissolute bunch) HostelBloggers get invited along to a function. So when the email dropped into our inbox inviting us to a Thames cruise - with drinks and food thrown in, no less - there was never any doubt that we were going to be there… with bells on!
Anyway, on our very best behavior, we took to the water, setting off eastwards from Festival Pier on London’s South Bank. Before we’d even had time to descend upon the buffet like a slavering pack of wolves, we slid past St Paul’s Cathedral…
…and then the Tate Modern…
…followed, in swift succession, by the Tower of London…
…and Tower Bridge.
Then we carried on, ever further eastwards, past the gleaming towers of Canary Wharf.
As we passed the O2 Arena (formerly the ill-fated Millenium Dome) and turned around, the sun began a spectacular descent.
It was totally dark by the time we got back up the river to Central London, and the Houses of Parliament, all lit up, were abolutely sensational.
As these things usually do, it all ended up a bit like this:
But, from start to finish, the whole thing was absolutely fantastic. Being out on the Thames really opens London up and gives you a sense of the city’s vast sprawl (so hard to appreciate in its narrow streets).
The thing that really hit home, though, was how all too rarely you take the time to be a tourist in your own city. And when you live in a spectacular city like London, that’s a great shame.
