Reading is most famous for its music festival held annual in late August. The town centre has been beautifully presented and my favourite places are along the canal and the river. If you go to the Oracle Mall and Vue Cinema you will find the canal that is lined with lively restaurants with excellent music. There are lots of Japanese restaurants and Spanish restaurants, so all my favourites covered. The scene reminded me of the area by the Casino in Melbourne (Australia) that also has restaurants lining the river. We were walking about at night, and unfortunately I didn’t have my camera with me so couldn’t take any photos to show and tell.
In the morning we went for a stroll along the river. The sun was out and it was so hot that we didn’t want to get stuck in the car again, so we took the opportunity to get some fresh air and plenty of exericse. The River Thames flows through Reading. To my surprise they even had a couple of black swans. But the rest of the swans were white, and there were also some ducks and lots and lots of geese.
The embankment has been beautifully presented with flowers and footpaths for pedestrians. Just be sure to watch out you don’t get run over by a cyclist! You will also come across a restaurant in the middle of the river called the ‘Island’ which I have been told is very posh, if that is your sort of thing.
In addition to being popular with the swans, some canoeists also found it a popular spot.
We also passed a couple of rowing clubs along the way.
Reading Rowing Club
Reading University Rowing Club.
If you have time you can take a cruise along the river on one of many cruise boats, for a spot of coffee of lunch. Can you see the queue above as people line up to board the boat? Inside the boat they had balloons decorating the ceilings and windows that said 50th. It made me wonder whether it was a wedding anniversary or someone’s birthday?
In addition to the other wild birds we also saw some small brown ducks, that we couldn’t figure out what they were. One of them had a nest just below the bridge, and funnily enough it was located right in front of a nightclub/restaurant. It sounds like the bird enjoys the spoils of left over food from the restaurant and the fine music of the nightclub.
If you are hungry then make your way down to the cenotaph near Reading University Rowing Club and you will find a great big walnut tree.
Alice Letts 