September 30th, 2008 - A Rainy River Ride

This was another excursion, booked via the Internet before leaving the US, that went according to script. A couple of bus rides to get to Westminster Bridge where there is a City Cruises pier and jump on the next boat to leave for Greenwich, a southeast Borough of London about 7 miles downriver. The plan then was to have lunch in Greenwich before catching another boat back as far as the Tower of London and walking west from there. The weather was not too cooperative - on and off rain, occasional torrential downpours and a strong, biting west wind. England in the fall...
The boat skippers voluntarily provide an interesting, amusing and frequently inaccurate running commentary in a dialect reminiscent of an uncultured version of the talking gecko seen on TV. This turned out to be a terrific bonus since so many features would otherwise have slid by completely unnoticed. If nothing else, a solid day spent on the river would be a great primer for planning future on-shore trips.
Lunch in Greenwich was a disaster with brolly breaking high winds and heavy rains, the 19th century tea clipper, Cutty Sark, discovered burnt to the ground and a heart clogging clump of fish and chips to contemplate. As soon as the next boat arrived it was back to the big city. Pictures on this page are from Wikipedia. Click here for River Thames pictures.