Everyone Not Named "Stephen Byfield" Should Read This Post. Mr. Byfield Should NOT Read It.

Two years ago, when Carol and I went to London for three nights and then to the Cotswolds for four, we tried  the Thames RIB Experience, which is a speed boat tour that is part sightseeing, part thrill ride. 

I wrote about it glowingly on the blog, highly recommending that anyone who goes to London should include this on their itinerary.  My Brit friend since 1983, Stephen Byfield emailed me to tell me that he lives by the river and the noise is the bane of his existence.  

By the way, if the bane of your existence is occasional noise that doesn't last long, isn't at night or early morning, your existence is a pretty good one.  Given that Stephen is into sailing, skiing, and is engaged to a lovely Danish woman, his existence is a pretty good one.

Anyhow, I did manage not to tell him we did the RIB Experience again this trip, so this will be a good test of whether or not he reads this trip's blog.

I put the link in the paragraph above because you will want to book this if you are going to London.  Absolutely fabulous.  

The sightseeing part is during the whole journey, but especially from Parliament down to the Tower Bridge.  A bit below Tower Bridge the tourist commentary stops and the fun kicks into high gear.  The boat speeds up significantly, and the captain takes us on a high speed journey, bouncing and spraying the passenger whilst criss-crossing the river.  The speakers switch from the guide's commentary to high energy songs, starting with the best song of the bunch -- the James Bond theme.

As I wrote in the 2023 blog post on it:

However, once below the Tower Bridge, we were outside the speed restrictions on the Thames, and our pilot cut loose.  We were flying.  Zigging, zagging, flying over wakes, zipping, moving at incredibly high rates of speed.  The guide stopped talking, and the pilot was flying.  It was massive fun.  

On the slow part, highlights include Parliament, the London Eye, St. Paul's Cathedral, the Globe  Theatre, The Walkie-Talkie Building, the Shard, the Cheese Grater, the Egg, the HMS Belfast, The Tower of London, and Tower Bridge.

On the fast part, you go past Greenwich, the 2012 Olympic Gondolas high above the river, Battersea Power Station (made famous by the Pink Floyd "Animals" album cover, although it was famous before that), the Cutty Sark (once the fastest sailing ship on the seas), Canary Whart, the Docklands area (now home to many posh apartment buildings), with fine views of the skyscrapers in East London. St. Katherine's Docks (those familiar with East London will know these are not in geographic order), and many many other highlights.

Sandy was thrilled by the thrill ride.  Carol and I loved it even though we had done it once before.  The bouncing on the river ended up causing Rick to significantly aggravate his occasionally sore back and cause him discomfort for several days until he finally listened to Sandy and took codeine and felt better.  

(Husbands, when your wives give you medical advice, listen to them!)

Sorry Stephen, but the boat would have gone out with or without us Sunday morning, so we might have well have gone!  It's huge fun -- you should try it some time!