Not the Tall Ships.

I really wanted to see the Tall Ships this year, as I missed them the last time they were here, but time has run away with me, and though I could have seen them any time from last Friday, other stuff was going on and I never made it. I realised at 11.30 this morning that they were due to sail away on the next leg of their race at 12 noon. I read that there were road closures and thousands of people clustered by the waterfront waiting for the Parade of Sail. After I'd grumbled and whinged for a bit, #2S kindly offered to take me into town. As I get majorly freaked by crowds and noise, and am too vertically challenged to see over people's shoulders anyway, we decided instead to go to the Festival Gardens further upriver in the hopes of a sighting. Nothing to be seen when we got there, so had a pleasant amble around the park (see above). On leaving to walk further towards town we did see the red pilot boat and the ship in extras at a distance. Never mind, we had a lovely walk around the gardens and riverfront in the sun, and a nice refreshing soft drink in the pub.
Here are some pics I would never have been able to take anyway.