Drifting down the Thames

Downstream or upstream, I'm not sure which. Whichever way it was, the day after returning from Poland had to be a rest day. An 11am cruise from Reading to Henley on Thames seemed just the ticket. Even better, we found the only free parking in Reading right next to the riverboat mooring!

Although the day wasn't perfect, moving from 35 to 21 degrees was a bit of a shock to the system - and travelling down the Thames caused a breeze just cool enough to warrant some shopping when we got to Henley on Thames.


Anyways, the boat was named the Mary Stuart; it took a good couple of hours to get there, and I stopped taking photographs after a while as there were just too many gorgeous houses on the banks of the River Thames.

Henley on Thames is just 8.3 miles from Reading, but what a different world. While Reading is very much a commuter city, Henley on Thames had these beautiful shops on narrow streets. The choice for lunch wasn't a great one - my chicken / bacon salad came with half a chicken and quarter a pig. There were some salad greens, but not many. Having said that, sitting in the garden bar under the heat lamp was just lovely. An added bonus was seeing the All Whites scoring their goal against Slovakia in the World Cup. Imagine if you will, a packed bar watching the game. They shoot, they score, I throw my arms into the air with a 'wooo hoooo!'. I'm the only Kiwi in the bar. Silence all round. I take my cider and move back out to the garden bar. Quietly.

Ah well, after a leisurely lunch, we took a quick dive into the shops, found myself a cardi for the ride home, and off we went for our return boat-ride.

Now, I'm not sure if it was that night that resulted in my best dining experience in England. Jamie's Italian - it was with a fair bit of trepidation that we entered this restaurant, expecting not very much.
However, the service was fantastic, the food divine and I've been left a Jamie convert. I can't describe the symphony of flavours, just, if you ever get the chance, go Jamie's Italian. As Paul said to the chef on the way out... 'you guys are artists'. Wow.