The Thames is a Tidal River

I bet you didn't know that! Well, we didn't. One day we were crossing the millennium bridge and noticed the river was moving toward the East, and the ocean. Which makes sense. Then, several days later, from the top of the Tate Modern museum (when we took the Blog Title Photograph above!), we noticed that the tricky Thames was moving in a westerly direction. WHAT?!

We were confused.

Then, we went to a little town called Southend-on-Sea. It's kind of like a wannabe Atlantic City crossed with a Chuck-E-Cheez. But it's also quainter. And it's on the ocean--actually the Estuary of the Thames. And accessible by train, and one of the less expensive destinations from London. It was here that we discovered that the River Thames is, in fact, a Tidal River all the way to London, and perhaps farther inland than that. This means that the ocean tides affect the current of the river.

Southend-on-Sea also has the longest pier in the world! It's about 1.34 miles long. There it is, stretching out behind us toward shore, where there is a lovely, cheezy amusement park!