Little Venice to Camden Lock - Sunday Afternoon on the Canal

I hope our readers know how much we do just for you.  We were happily lazing around the flat this morning but we knew that it was not blog worthy. Hmmm..what could we do to entertain you??  

We started with lunch at the LIttle Venice boat cafe.

 Then we got in line to board the narrow boat bound for Camden Lock Market.

 We desperately hoped this would not be another episode of "Captain Frank" - our famous sail boat ride to HELL. DiDi knows what I'm talking about :-) 

 This couple had the foresight to pack a few beers.

Off we go!

The boat operator gave us a little narrative throughout the ride.  I was surprised to learn that these narrow boats were originally motor-less and were  pulled down the canal by horses.  The horses would walk along the side walks but in some tunnels, the horses went over the bridge and men would have to manually push the boat through the tunnel with their legs against the tunnel walls.  This was known as legging and it sounds like a very slow and miserable process.

The tunnel below would have taken about an hour to leg!

 The ride took us through Regent's Park.

 I loved this chalk board on the side of the canal walkway.  Lots of diverse ideas here including "play for Arsenal" and "visit gorillas in Rwanda" and "Go to Tomorrowland with my best friend".

What would YOU write??

 The London Zoo is in  Regents Park and we floated past a  bird enclosure. I realize the Zoo would make a good blog post except neither Bill nor I like zoos.  I wonder if the zoo birds inside realize that there are birds on the other side of the net who are free to go wherever the like?  Doesn't that seem sad?  Let's hurry past the zoo...

Too bad this place didn't have a take away window on to the canal - I'm sure we would have been happy to order some dim sum for the ride.

 I saw the bookstore boat that is usually moored right behind Paddington. I almost didn't recognize it because I usually see it from the other side.

 Next time we need to take a gondola ride with a guy who will play and sing to us while another guy steers us down the canal.  Then again, are those blankets clean?

 Our destination - Camden Market.  

As markets go, this one has a lot of vendors but it's just too crowded.  Every time we go it's an absolute mob scene and there is a lot of cheap merchandise on offer.  I did manage to buy a new leather backpack at the shop where I bought my leather jacket last year with Denise so the trip wasn't completely for nothing.  It's never a waste of time if you come home with a purchase, right?