The results of my trip to the corner bakery are disappointing. I get cappuccino and croissants. I must have turned on the oven broiler to heat up the croissants because within 30 seconds the tops are seriously burned. I cut off most of the char and they are just OK and the cappuccino tastes of burned coffee. We have a Nespresso machine in the kitchen but only a couple of capsules. We both think the machine makes pretty decent espresso. I discover it’s not easy to score those capsules so I call the owner and he is going to bring us lots more. So maybe I’ll be able to forgo the coffee run to the corner. But it would be nice to find some delicious breakfast pastries…
First thing we bought a 7-day transportation pass. The pass gives us unlimited underground, train and bus transportation. There is a station not far from us and the “tube” set up looks to be very similar to the metro in Paris.
Our destination for the day is Greenwich, England’s maritime capital. The weather is beautiful; the Londoners keep telling us that a nice sunny day is not a usual occurrence. We catch the tube to the Westminster stop where we pick up a sight-seeing boat on the Thames to Greenwich. Westminster looks impressive and as we wait to our boat departure, Big Ben is chiming. The sights along the Thames are incredible and we have a very interesting and funny guide telling us all about them. It gives us a visual of all the places we need to see.
The Greenwich town center was laid out in the 1820s. At its heart is the Royal Navy College and the Queen’s House. But other visitor attractions include the Cutty Sark, the National Maritime museum and the Royal Observatory in Greenwich Park.
We first tour the Cutty Sark, the world’s last surviving tea clipper ship which was launched in 1869. The exhibits show how the ship was able to store an enormous amount of tea in its hold. There is also a very interesting collection of old ship figureheads including Abe Lincoln, Sir Lancelot, a few kings and then a bunch of the usual buxom maidens.
We are hungry by the time we complete the tour and have lunch at the Trafalger Tavern, a place frequented by Charles Dickens in his time. We both decide on traditional fare: I have fish and chips and Howard has bangers and mash. The chips are pretty disappointing! Howard has an English ale and I stick with the tried and true French wine.
Fortified, we head off on a lovely walk through the park with the Observatory as our destination. The park is really lovely–people are catching some rays, picnicking, throwing balls for their dogs. The observatory is a site dedicated to timekeeping and astronomy and those both relate to seafaring.
The observatory was founded in 1675 by King Charles II for the purpose of improving navigation. It is located on the prime meridian (0 degrees longitude) and is famous as the point from which all time is measured (Greenwich Mean Time). There is also a camera obscura at the observatory. This low-tech device projects a live image from Greenwich onto a flat disc in a darkened room simply by manipulating light, without electricity or machinery–rather like TV today!
At the end of our visit to Greewich, we take the train back home. I think we’re getting the hang of London’s subway system! Our trip began at 9:30 and ended at 4:30 and our feet did not fail us. But we are happy to be back home to relax and put our feet up.