My afternoon with Akh and Batool started off with eating a mini chicken. It was pretty tasty b07.ut surprisingly I couldn’t finish it off:

We then decided that it was such a lovely day that we could go down to Hyde Park and have some ice cream, take a walk and …. row a boat! At £9 per person per hour its not a particularly cheap excursion but this never seems to be a problem for hordes of people lining up to give it a spin.

On the way to Hyde Park we walked by Marble Arch and what a transformation that has happened to it. I did some research and apparently Westminster City Council have earmarked £1.5m to renovate the spot starting with rejuvenating the three fountains which have been out of operation for a number of years, installing lots of new benches, creating a green area and also, it seems, erecting interesting statues like this horse one:

It was very pretty.

We thought that an hour wouldn’t be long enough out on the water but actually rowing a boat is much harder work than it looks like. Especially trying to get both arms going at once. Akh did some rowing for a bit but by the end of it we were all chipping in to take one oar each. As you can imagine that took some co-ordination to ensure one person wasn’t rowing harder than another and as a result sending you way of course. I must admit that we did spend some time by the side and also, er, intimately engaged with other boats/pedaloes. Not always our fault mind you!

But we also managed to achieve our goal which was to reach the far end of the serpentine (that is, to where they’d blocked it off.) I loved how Akh had a giant smile on his face the whole time we were out on the water!

I think I’m going to be sore tomorrow ….