Speedboat on the Thames

We went off to London today to use Mum’s 70th birthday present, a speed boat ride down the Thames! We left a little later than I had planned and picked Mum up whilst Lewis and Jack went and got petrol and we then caught up with them on the M40. We had to be at the pier (right by the London Eye) by 10.45am, we somehow got there with minutes to spare, I was stressing, it shouldn’t have been like that..if we’d left on time!

Anyway, after a quick safety briefing and putting on the life belts we boarded the boat (12 people) and were off, initially it was a tour at a slow pace along the river and getting information on various landmarks which was interesting (I knew quite a few of the facts being raised but also learned some new ones so that was good.) And then after Tower Bridge we were allowed to put our foot down, and he certainly did just that, it was excellent. They had music blaring out as well so it worked really well. Everyone loved it, twists and turns and it was exhilarating, didn’t last long (about 15-20 mins) and then we were turning round to return home, but definitely worth it. Mum loved it, in fact we all did.

When we got back we then walked along the South Bank heading towards Giraffe restaurant but before we got there we found the Italian restaurant, Strada and went there instead. We sat outside but I wasn’t in shade, wow, that was hot! The table and cutlery were absolutely burning hot, I couldn’t pick up the knife and fork! Anyway, really nice meal, then walked along and got an ice cream and we all crashed out asleep for 20 minutes under a tree and finally got ready and left.

Lewis was going back up to Huddersfield which is why he’d driven so we waved him off and made our own way back through Chiswick and dropped Mum off and back in time for the World cup

The World Cup final was between France, strong favourites before the tournament began, and Croatia who beat us in the semi-final. It’s been a great World Cup this time and the final lived up to that as well and was a great spectacle. Croatia were hard done by with two goals conceded that were very harsh indeed, a penalty decision using VAR that the ref got completely wrong I feel – but France ran away with it in the end and it was a comfortable 4-2 win, but it was a decent game and I really wanted Croatia to win it…ah well.

That was it then really, pottered around at home and had an early night after a long weekend.

Still bloody hot!