Activities, England, Fun

Finally – My first Balloon Ride (with Adventure Balloons)

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Ms B had been bothering me by going on and on about how awesome her ride on a hot air balloon through the Valley of Kings during her trip to Egypt in 2005 had been (and admittedly that must have been fabulous, judging from the pictures, with all the pyramids and things). So today, while Ms B went on with her business, doing some lawyering in Canary Wharf, and with me being ‘between jobs’ (my next assignment will only start in a few weeks’ time, again abroad in Germany), I got up real early, 4:15am to be precise, sat myself in a rental car I had hired the night before by 4:45am, and drove to the launch site in Hampshire, 1h30m drive away from home. Due to a couple of bad turns (despite the Tom Tom, I know, inexcusable! I’m not a human lifeform before 8am, more like a mix […]

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Fun, London, Travel

Thames Rockets – Great Fun on a Rubber Boat

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I had been thinking for some time about booking myself into London’s number one outdoor activity (according to Tripadvisor): a trip on a rubber boat with Thames Rockets. Today I finally made it, and boy was it fun! I opted for their gold standard package, the so-called Thames Barrier Explorers Voyage (80 mins for £54.50), departing from the London Eye. As a Londoner, the touristy sightseeing part didn’t do much for me, even though the guide was amusing enough and got a few laughs out of us. I was in it for the thrill of speed.         Shortly after we had passed by Tower Bridge, our captain increased the speed and went full throttle. It is surprisingly smooth a ride. Last year Ms B and I were going on a zodiac in the open Arctic sea off Longyearbyen in Spitsbergen at similar speeds of just over 55km/h (back […]

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Fun, Portugal, Travel, Water sports

Lisbon Sailing Tour

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While in Lisbon for a day last week, Pedro from Pypas Cruises invited BSqB on a 1.5h sailing boat trip. My wife only joined me in Porto a few days later, so I went on the trip on my own together with a young Portuguese couple. Pedro was joined by one of his experienced skippers, Antonio, so it was five of us overall (the maximum is 12 persons/10 guests). If you should do the tour in the morning, too, like I did, then I would highly recommend having breakfast at the world-famous Pastéis de Belém. From there you can cross the Jardim de Belém to the starting point just 15 minutes’ walk away. The UNESCO World Heritage listed, gothic Jerónimos Monastery and the (equally listed) Torre de Belém (Belem Tower) are also next-door. When it was built in the early-16th Century, the tower was towards the middle of the Tagus […]

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