The Prime Meridian of the World--Day 39

Today was our trip to Greenwich. It was really cool in a lot of different ways. We started our morning off with a ride on a Thames Clipper, a riverboat that runs back and forth along the Thames. We had a guide on the boat who told us a little bit about London as we were sailing along. For example, Canary Wharf is called so because it received shipments of goods from the Canary Islands. The journey took a lot longer than I expected; we didn't get to Greenwich until close to 11:15 AM (we left at about 10:30).

Canary Wharf as seen from Greenwich and the grounds of the Royal Naval Academy (keep reading!).

When we got off the boat, we first stopped for a minute to look at the Cutty Sark, a very famous ship from Scotland. It is currently being renovated and will be done in time for the 2012 Olympic Games, complete with a museum constructed inside of it. I would love to go back and see it when it is finished. Next, we took a walk through the cute Greenwich Market, where vendors sell everything from clothes to jewelry to bags to food. We made a note to return for lunch. Our tour guide Simon then took us to the Royal Naval College. It used to be a palace in the time of King Henry VIII. When he died (or shortly thereafter), it became a hospital for retired sailors. Well, they got fed up with the place after awhile, so it was converted into a naval academy. It retained this role until 1994. At this time, the government wanted to sell the buildings, but there was a lot of public outcry to save the site. Now, the University of Greenwich owns and preserves the buildings. Two buildings in particular struck our interest. One was the Painted Hall, the dining hall of the old hospital/naval academy. As the name suggests, the ceilings are richly decorated in what I would call a neoclassical style. I believe the hall dates back to the time of King William III and Queen Mary II because there is a painting of them on the ceiling as well. I think it would be really nice to have a meal in this place because it is very spacious, grand, and open to light. The other building of interest was the chapel. Because it was Sunday, there was a service going on while we were there, but we were still able to peak inside. I can tell you that it was very pretty (but not show you because photography is not allowed inside). The decorations around the ceiling were very ornate, and there was a lot of pink, gold, and white in the color scheme.

The domes of the Painted Hall and Chapel.

The back of the Painted Hall.

The dome/tower of the Chapel.

A detail from the ceiling of the Painted Hall.

A dining table in the Painted Hall.

More detail from the ceiling/walls/doorways of the Painted Hall.

The painted underside of the dome of the Painted Hall.

Around noon, we made our way up to the Royal Observatory. It sits high on a hill overlooking Greenwich. At the foot of the hill is lovely Greenwich Park as well as Queen Anne's House. The lawn in front of this house will be used for the equestrian events at next year's Olympic Games. The site is also interesting because the house demonstrates the "piano nobile" architectural style, where the first floor is accentuated by a lower detail that draws the viewer's eye upwards (the staircase and blank wall in this case). When we got to the top of the hill, we were able to take in wonderful views of London. I would have liked to actually go inside the Observatory, but the admission price was around 10 pounds, a little too pricey for me. Instead, Haley and I just walked around the grounds for awhile. We found a cute secluded garden and stood on either side of the Prime Meridian (there is a small plaque and a short stretch of the line that lie outside the gates). I can officially say that I have been both in two places at one time and in two times at one place! And obviously, I was pretty happy about it. One cool thing about the Royal Observatory is that it is also a place of timekeeping. You can see in the photo directly below that there is a little ball at the tip of one of the towers. Everyday at 12:55 PM, the ball rises to the top of the pole, then it drops at 1 PM to mark the time. I don't know why they chose 1 PM. That's just how it works, I guess.

The Royal Observatory as seen from the grounds of Queen Anne's House.

Queen Anne's House--obviously undergoing pre-Olympic construction.

The grounds of the house, which are continuous with the grounds of the National Maritime Museum.

A nice view of London from the Royal Observatory.

The observation deck at the Royal Observatory.

Flowers growing along the border of Greenwich Park.

The sign above the line. If you compare it with the picture below, you can see that my right side is in the Eastern Hemisphere and my left side in the Western Hemisphere.

As you can see, I am favoring the Western Hemisphere (it's where I call home, after all).

Greenwich is also home to the National Maritime Museum, which I believe is the largest of its kind in the world. They have a lot of pieces from old ships, including mast heads, keels, the bodies of boats, and even the functional machinery of the Reliant tugboat and the propeller of a military ship. Best of all, it was completely free. It was a great opportunity to learn more about sailing and the ocean, and it was neat to see how important the sea is to London. After touring the museum for a little bit, we retraced our steps and went back to the market for lunch. Along the way, we passed a row of old anchors, which I thought were very impressive.

If this is the anchor, I can only imagine how big the ship is. O.O (That's a surprised/awed faced.) Also, notice the sunshine! No rain today!! :)

 Anyway, I had a nice bowl of Ethiopian veggie dishes over rice topped with a spicy green bean sauce for my midday repast (it was definitely more spicy than I would like to admit...I started tearing up). I think my sinuses are sufficiently cleaned out now. We wandered among the stalls for about half an hour, but the market was very packed. After a short time, we got tired and decided to call it a day. I would have liked to stop at Canary Wharf on the way back, but I realized that the day was growing late and that I should get back and finish a few homework assignments and other tasks to prepare for tomorrow (which will involve laundry, grocery shopping, signing up for--gasp!--the last handful of events on the trip, and my first visit to Metrogate House to use the computer lab/printer facilities).