While writing about the Castel Sant’Angelo on the banks of the Tiber, it struck me that some of my favourite cities are dominated by their rivers; Rome’s Tiber, Dublin’s Liffey, New York’s Hudson and London’s majestic Thames. Here are a few wonderful rivers I’ve admired around the world. First up, the mighty Mississippi, at points so wide you’d scarce believe it was a river. What a perfect place for Huckleberry Finn and his pal Jim to discover freedom.

A rather different kind of river; one made of lava in the area surrounding Mount St Helens volcano.

The mighty Snake River, which starts in Yellowstone and snakes past some of the world’s most glorious landscape before tumbling into the Columbia River. It is this river that Evel Knievel tried to jump but didn’t quite make it.

A River of Light as Dubliners welcome the New Year. Everyone was invited to bring or make a lantern and join in the procession that wound its way through the city centre after dark.

There are many more rivers near and dear to my heart, but I’m going to stop midstream and pass the paddle to you. If you would like to join in this week’s travel theme (everyone’s welcome!) here’s what to do:

• Create your own post and title it Travel theme: Rivers
• Include a link to this page in your post so others can find it too
• Get your post in by next Thursday, as the new travel theme comes out on Friday
• Don’t forget to subscribe to keep up to date on the latest weekly travel themes

Oh and by the way, May 9th is Lost Sock Memorial Day. Spare a thought for all those lonely socks out there!

xxx

Ailsa

Rivers are the arteries of our planet; they are lifelines in the truest sense. – Mark Angelo

To put your hands in a river is to feel the chords that bind the earth together. – Barry Lopez

By the side of the river he trotted as one trots, when very small, by the side of a man who holds one spell-bound by exciting stories; and when tired at last, he sat on the bank, while the river still chattered on to him, a babbling procession of the best stories in the world, sent from the heart of the earth to be told at last to the insatiable sea. – Kenneth Grahame (The Wind in the Willows)