14 June 2011
The lift is out of order! 109 steps to breakfast! Not so bad going down but coming up again was a bit of a mission! Tonight when we came home we used the staff lift. It is a little square job with an old fashioned iron gate you pull to close – that was exciting! However back to our day. We set off by tube to Embankment to catch a ferry to Greenwich. It was a lovely mild day so we were able to leave our coats behind for the first time. We duly hopped on board our boat and made our way up the Thames. Its great on the river – you get a better perspective of where everything is and its good to sit back and soak it all in. The trip took about 30 minutes and we eventually disembarked at Greenwich. Initial impressions were not good as the whole place seemed to be under construction. The Cutty Sark was being stripped down and was mostly obscured by high walls and the exit from the wharf was very messy. It was all worthwhile though once we made our way towards the historic buildings that Greenwich is so well known for. We started off by having coffee in the brewery which was part of the information centre then made our way to the National Maritime Museum. We saw a working wheel off a paddle steamer, a huge screw off a battle ship, Queen Mary’s barge that used to be used to ferry the royal family down the river, a history of shipping on the Atlantic- including all the slave ships from Africa and a wonderful display of stained glass windows – to name a few of the many wonderful exhibits.

We then moved on past the Trinity College of Music towards the Painted Hall. This important building used to house many famous pieces of Art but is now used primarily for corporate events. Unfortunately we were not able to go inside because Barclays Bank was setting up for an event but we were able to look in through the doorway. The hall had the most beautiful frescoed ceiling and I would have loved to have been able to enter – but not to be!

Our next stop was the Chapel and University of Greenwich. The Chapel was quite exquisite with many features including massive marble columns and intricate artisan finishing work. The chapel was designed by Christopher Wren but was finished by someone else in an Athenian style. Very beautiful.

The Queen’s house (Mary but she died before it was completed) was our next stop. I couldn’t help comparing its style to the Dunedin Railway station as it was very similar in that the rooms surrounded the main entryway. It was originally built as two buildings side by side with a gap down the middle but James 1st had it altered. The house contained many wonderful artworks of Kings and Queens and of famous landmarks. Not to be missed.

Kev told me this morning that today might not be a big walking day but he lied. By now my feet were killing me and we still hadn’t made our way up the big hill to the Royal Observatory! We couldn’t miss it though so we set off up the hill. I haven’t mentioned there were crowds of people of all ethnicities and hundreds of school children all going up the hill with us. There were people picnicing, children sitting having lunch and young students playing ball.

The way to the observatory was under the trees but still very hot. Jannie started complaining about the heat, the steep pathway, her feet, her legs, oh well it was a bit of a trek but we made it and what a view!

I had a look at the sun through a telescope and there was one sun spot and lots of storms curling off the outside rim. The chap in charge was full of information, like, the light that we were seeing from the sun takes 8.5 minutes to get to us!!
The old dears that were in front of me couldn’t see anything no matter how much the guy adjusted the focus ring and one of them tripped over the leg of the telescope and knocked it out of focus. He was so patient. Unfortunately the Planetarium was not doing another tour for 40 minutes and it was to be mainly school children so we decided to make our way down again. We did stop to soak in the uniqueness of the Meridian Line and the Greenwich mean time clock – that was great! The view from the top of the hill was terrific. You look down to Greenwich and can see the course of the river and a view of greater London! By the way the temperature today was at least 26 degrees Stu! More squirrels on the way up the hill girls – they are soo cute!

Back down the hill we were dying for a beer and something to eat! We went back to the brewery where we had morning tea as it had a lovely garden restaurant. We had an ale and a burger (medium rare). Were off to the theatre that night so lunch was the main meal. Kev wants me to tell you that the brewery had a time line around the walls and did you know that in 1791 one in every 4 Brits was constantly drunk! Lunch over we decided (Jan) to walk the village and visit the Fan Museum. It was a lovely old building with an Orangery out the back which consisted of a small formal garden and conservatory. Kev was delighted to go there! Anyway it was very interesting and Camilla is the Patron so we have been close to Royalty.

Greenwich village is very quaint and has a popular market 4 days of the week but not the day we were there.

This was a huge day and we still had the theatre to attend. We went to We Will Rock You which is based on music by Queen. Its in its 10th year and was showing at the Dominion Theatre. The music and dancing was great but the storyline a bit weird – by Ben Elton so that might explain it.

Sleep, glorious sleep……….

BTW - Best wishes to those back home who have had birthdays and anniversaries - Ev, Ian, Sheryl, Graeme and Viv - love to you all.

Ruby & Issy the photo's for you!