12.09.2019
Last Christmas my mum bought us a voucher for lunch and a cruise down the river in York, and today we finally got around to using it. I’ve never been to York before, but I’ve always been told how beautiful it is and how much there is to see. I’ve heard that it’s very historical and picturesque, so of course I took my camera.
The boat was split into two decks. The lower deck looked like a vintage café with a small bar and several tables, each draped in a lemon-gingham tablecloth topped with a fresh pot of flowers. The upper deck was open-top with several rows of plastic chairs; here you could fully enjoy the view and the fresh air.
As we set off, the tour guide introduced himself and explained the plan for the cruise. For the first part he didn’t give any commentary, instead we listened to music and lunch was served. I swear the music was basically the soundtrack to Dirty Dancing, and it felt like we had stepped back in time! Lunch was delicious, even for a self-proclaimed fussy-eater like me, and dessert was even better!
Once we’d finished our lunch, we went up to the top deck to get a better view. We were quite lucky that the sun was still shining and it was warm enough to sit in the breeze. Most of the other guests stayed downstairs though, so I don’t think they got the full impact!
The views were really pretty, and the tour guide started talking about the different landmarks we could see and explaining some of the history. There were several bridges that I thought were really nice, they were designed like castles with lots of intricate details carved in the stone. Some of them had plaques and statues, others were really modern and almost looked out of place. My favourite part of the bridges were the streetlights on them because they were large and old-fashioned, I’d love to see them on a snowy night.
There were houses too that lined the sides of the river, and they looked so perfect. Living that close to a river probably isn’t as idyllic as it seems though, especially in the middle of the summer when there are tourists on your doorstep!
We passed a lot of others boats and some people were fishing on the banks. I was particularly fond of this one because it stuck out like a sore thumb against the more muted colours of the other boats. Apparently it’s an ice-cream boat, which I’m assuming works in the same way as an ice cream van – who knew that was a thing?
We were on the water for about an hour and a half, which was plenty of time to see everything and finish lunch. So if you’re ever in York and not sure what to do, I can highly recommend taking a river cruise!
-Holly
