Trip on the River

The last time I went on a boat on the River Thames, I was eleven years old, and it was part of a school trip to see the Tutankhamum Exhibition at the British Museum. One highlight of the trip was seeing the gold death mask; another was getting lost on the Tube! I don't think we went a long way, but I remember passing HMS Belfast, and taking a photo of the dome of St Pauls.

I was delighted to learn that the river buses are integrated with the rest of the London public transport system, and I could use my Oyster card to pay.
Woolwich Pier is the furthest down the river that the river bus goes, and only when the tides are right. Here's the city clipper Tornado coming in to the pier:

It was a bit of a grey day, but very comfortable on the boat. It's even got a little café. There was some sort of nursery school outing on board, too - I think the children were young enough to travel for free.
We passed the Woolwich Ferry, and went through the Thames Barrier:

We went past the Greenwich Naval College and the Cutty Sark:

The river does a big loop, where we passed the O2 building, and then we were getting more central, around Tower Bridge.
We passed several other city clippers, with names like Monsoon and Jupiter.
We got off at Blackfriars Pier, and walked back to where we wanted to go along the Thames Path.
Travelling through London feels very different on the river - it was great fun!