This afternoon PLW and I headed out to Richmond for lunch, what with it being such a fabulous day and all, it would have been rude not to! Lots of people seemed to have the same idea as us, they had just given themselves a slight head-start, actually getting there by lunch time. So preferring not to rush ourselves (it is Sunday after all) we set about lunch in a slightly reversed order and began sensibly with tea and savoury pastries, before wondering off to Gelateria Danieli for a few scoops of heaven...
Mmmm
Loving the licking :)
Our next port of call was the Richmond Boat Hire for a little splash of the paddle. The timing was perfect, we (I) would row around on the river for an hour and then have our main courses at The Boat, the boat restaurant on the river, conveniently next to where we'd hired our water steed from. When I first suggested hiring a boat PLW wasn't too keen, and in order to entice her suggested that I would do all the rowing. She was fine with this.
In charge of the vessel
With a lady-like lilt we leaped on board - PLW assigned herself the cushioned seat and removed the little plank for my feet to push against - it was getting in her way - and after all, illegibly, she was going to navigate. I donated an oar to each of my hands and willed them to become friends. We set off after a few splashes picking up some speed and, when prompted, some advise on whether to go left or right.
And we did fairly well - until an unsuspecting tree leaped out of nowhere and dangled it's branches into the water. Now this elusive tree wasn't really so sneaky - it had, on occasion, let itself be seen by the navigator - but she thought it would give our trip more of an adventure if we got to experience it up close...
The perfect tree-viewing position
In an attempt to duck out the way I lent backwards. Unfortunately the backrest for my bench was the bottom of the boat - oops! It had us both in fits of hysterics.
Lunch was delicious and as the day was turning into evening and the rowing boats were gliding past...
We were distracted by music and laughter and had to go and have a look... Now before you watch this, keep an eye out for the man doing push-ups and the wet one in white board-shorts - earlier, after finishing a stint dancing, he refreshed himself with a little dip before hitting the pavement again - so useful that Thames!
Lucky