Far be it from me to rain on some old German lady's parade (wait, the English weather already did that!) but really: Britannia once ruled the waves, but this sorry-looking flotilla on the Thames the other day [photo at right] indicates that Britannia doesn't even rule the rivers anymore.
Really, British friends: This is the best you can do in a celebratory flotilla? Where did they come up with that rust-bucket tub the poor queen is riding on -- a salvage yard near an old Arco refinery in the Philly harbor?
The red uniforms are nice, I suppose. But really, England, you are embarrassing your cousins here on the other side of the ocean with this sad-sack fleet of shrimp boats and glorified iron-ore barges.
The next time you need to come up with an impressive display on the waves, or even the ripples, why not give the old colonies a call and we'll send over some of our truly spiffy tall sailing ships like those in the top photo shown during a spectacular tall-ships flotilla in New York Harbor in 1986. (Though a heart can skip a beat to see any photo of lower Manhattan with the World Trade Center twin towers still gleaming in the sun.)
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I don't think your "truly spiffy tall sailing ships" would have had much success passing under 13 bridges. There's a good reason why the queen was on a low barge.
ReplyDeleteI think the ship is too old to be an ARCO relict. I think it goes back to Atlantic or TYDOL days.
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