Hey all! So, we’ve been on the road for about three and a half weeks on our latest trip. We were originally planning to go to Ireland in early May, but someone (won’t take a genius to guess who) forgot to bring a most important vehicle document – one which is mandatory for traveling to a different Country. So, as I type, we are almost to the Scottish border in Northumbria, England. But first, here’s a catch up on our first few days in the UK …hope you enjoy!
After our 10 hour flight (uhg) from SFO to Heathrow Airport in London, we took the underground to our first stay in the UK. It was aboard a canal boat on The River Lea, which snakes through the Hackney Wick neighborhood of East London.
During the Industrial Revolution, a network of canals were built in the UK to help transport goods throughout the Country. Much of the inland canals were built to a standard width of 7 feet and incorporated many locks, bridges and tunnels that further restricted the length of boats that could navigate them. The maximum dimensions of the first narrowboats were 6 feet 10 inches wide by 72 feet long. The boats were originally pulled by draft horses along canal walkways until the steam engine gradually replaced the horses in the early 1900’s.
Today, the 35,000 plus narrowboats that still populate the estimated 4,700 miles of navigable canals in the UK are mostly homes to folks who have chosen a very interesting alternative lifestyle; or increasingly, the boats are being used as lucrative holiday rentals. The narrowboat we rented was dubbed The Floating Terrarium, due to over 70 plants that decorated its interior (yes, Angela counted them … and watered them. Multiple times). During our weeklong stay aboard The Floating Terrarium, we mostly slept off our jet lag, but towards the end of the week, we did start to venture out a bit. Please enjoy a gallery of photos from our first few days abroad!
More London to come in future posts!
What a great way to start your trip. Loved the Floating Terrarium.
It was a really fun experience on the narrow boat. I started to feel like I was floating even when standing on hard ground for days afterward, though!
That’s a nice way to go. Not terribly far from London Center by the looks of it, and yet it looks rather calm or at least unperturbed by daily city life.
I liked the use of the church.
Yes, Hackney Wick was quite nice. It might have been a bit young and hip for a couple of boring geriatrics from America though, but we did enjoy lazy strolls along the canal.