Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Lolling in Little Venice - A London Excursion


London's Lovely Little Venice!

In London's Little Venice, delightful parks rise up with brilliant displays of spring blooms and elegant bridges are eye-catching diversions. We arrived at the wharf on a cold, wet morning for a cruise to Camden Lock. Having booked a return trip, we decided to shorten the experience to a 45-minute, one-way trip because of the weather.

Booking a week-long cruise in the north of England had been on my wish list, but I suppose life on a narrowboat might feel claustrophobic to someone who is tall, and used to a very active lifestyle (umm... that would be T.)

Britain's narrowboats have a fascinating history of moving supplies along a complex and vast system of canals. Booking a tour on the Regent's Canal is a little pleasure I highly recommend, albeit, an activity that generally marks one as a visitor to London. (Usually when traveling, I make an effort to avoid doing anything that has me swimming in a sea of tourists. I'm happiest spending time in places that allow me to meld with locals.)

Jason's Trip .. www.jasons.co.uk .. is a 100 year old canal boat that's been converted for leisure travelers.

6 comments:

  1. Couldn't agree more with your style of traveling, but that little cruise looks too fun to pass up!

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  2. Next time you come to London, Alice, we MUST meet up, and you MUST come out on my mother's narrowboat!

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  3. Christine,
    Bottom line: sometimes you just have to join in with the other tourists! That said, the only time I took the Chicago Architecture Foundation River Cruise was after I had moved West. Totally crazy, because this is something every single Chicagoan/architecture fan must do! and not just once!

    Victoria,
    Agreed! So sorry to miss you at Babylon, and to miss seeing your garden? A very sad face :-[
    I can't believe your mother has a narrowboat. How wonderfully exciting!!

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  4. Alice, the very first time we went to London we stayed with friends who had a flat in Little Venice. It was on Blomfield Rd, right across from Jasons. So of course we did the Camden Lock tour, love Camden market!

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  5. There was a canal close to where I grew up in England, although it wasn't restored until after I left. I do remember some of the canals further north though. As a child I would simply melt at the sight of the old Shire horse pulling the boat from the tow-path adjacent to the canal. I honestly can't imagine a better way to spend a week than silently cruising along the networks of canals in England. I hope you get a chance to do that someday, just ask Tom to spend a lot of time on deck.

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  6. Deborah,
    So many connections among friends in the blogosphere! How delightful to be able to stay in Little Venice and across from Jasons, no less.

    CBV
    Did I know that you grew up in England? Sorry if I have forgotten. I hadn't know about the horses towing the boats, until the guide explained. I encouraged Tom to walk the tow-path while the boat glided along, but couldn't sell him on the idea.

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