Last June, England celebrated the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Can you imagine? 70 years as a ruler. Can you imagine the UK without the Queen? Well, I was there. Although, I have to admit I was mostly there to see my friend. Still, I enjoyed seeing British people celebrating the Jubilee everywhere! Even on boats! On June 3rd, we traveled to Hampton Court to do a boat trip on the Thames.
A Picnic on Hampton Court’s Pier
Before our boat trip on the Thames, we sat on the pier with food and drinks and had a little picnic while watching the boats pass by. And there were a lot of them. Some nearly discreet enjoyed their cruise. Some were very loud, honking and singing, while wearing hats and clothes bearing the UK flag. And some even had masks of the Queen’s face and waved at people on the shore.
What made me laugh the most were the corgi balloons! There is such a thing as royal corgis. In fact, the Queen nearly always owns one or more corgis. So, as a symbol of her reign, there were a few of these corgi shaped balloons flying around. By the way, if you have read my article about the QVB, you know that corgis are not the only royal dogs that became famous. Next to the QVB (Queen Victoria Building) in Sydney, you can see a statue of Islay, one of Queen Victoria’s favorite dogs.
There were all types of boats: big ones, medium ones, small ones, canoes and even a paddleboard!
A Boat Trip On The Thames
Once on the boat, we saw many other people doing a boat trip on the Thames. A group was blowing bubbles to other boats. It was quite poetic, the lady had a red dress floating in the wind and as the boat continued to cruise, a flow of bubbles was left behind.
Some people were not just doing a boat trip on the Thames, they were barbecuing on the Thames. Yes, the British have barbecue boats!! It’s a thing! There is an actual barbecue on board. There were also picnic boats, but it’s far less impressive, it was just a table and decorations on the boat. A lot of people were drunk.
Even people on tiny vessels were eating and drinking, sometimes only crisps and beer, but still! Impressive.
Once we left the main area of Hampton Court, the boat trip was much calmer. There were a bunch of geese, the sun and the wind… I relaxed so much that I nearly fell asleep.
As we approached Richmond, we saw majestic manors on the hills in front of us. It felt like we were in some kind of Victorian movie or book.
From Richmond To Kew Gardens
From Richmond’s pier, we walked a little bit and took the bus to Kew Gardens entrance. Remember how I wanted to visit Kew Gardens by day? Well, on that Friday, I got to fulfil my wish!
The park is really big and you can spend a whole afternoon there. We couldn’t see every part of the gardens, and some places were closed. At the end of the day, our feet hurt. We stopped at the café before visiting the last gardens we wanted to see. By the way, I don’t recommend their carrot cake. It’s not bad, but not good either and it’s pretty expensive. In my opinion, you better go to Costa for a really delicious carrot cake.
I was really happy because I was finally able to climb on the Treetop Walkway. The walk is not that long, but it’s pretty cool to be on top of Kew Gardens and to see the tops of all these ancient trees. If you suffer from vertigo, don’t look down because you walk on metal grids that are see-through… There is also some information about nature along the walkway.
I liked the Japanese garden, but the heat was intense and we were melting instead of feeling zen. There are a few greenhouses that are nice, but I don’t recommend visiting them during hot days. With the humidity, I was sweating even more and I felt like I had become one with my pair of jeans.
I really liked the rose garden because it was outside (as opposed to in a warm greenhouse), and all the flowers were beautiful. Most of them smelled wonderful (some didn’t smell at all). And with the glass greenhouse in the background, the view was perfect!
A Longer Boat Trip On The Thames
Under normal circumstances, the boat trip on the Thames can end near Kew Gardens. You can even go from the City of Westminster to Kew Gardens. However, because it was the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, our boat was stopping only in Richmond. That’s why we took the bus to Kew.
Maybe, next time, when there will be less people and a normal schedule, we’ll do the full cruise.
On a practical note, it didn’t seem necessary to book a lot in advance, even during the Jubilee. Some people didn’t book their tickets and could still get on board.
To see more photos of the United Kingdom, you can visit the gallery United Kingdom.
