June 8: London Eye and Greenwich
After breakfast we took the Tube early to Waterloo station on the south bank of the Thames. We got directions from someone at the station and walked to the British Airways London Eye, the 500-foot tall Ferris wheel built at the millennium. We arrived before it was open and had bought tickets in advance online. The line was unexpectedly very short and we got into the second capsule boarded of the day. The Eye moves constantly all day and gives spectacular views of London. We saw great views to the northwest of the steeple of St. Martin-in-the-fields and Nelson’s column in Trafalgar Square, to the west of Buckingham Palace, to the south of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, and to the East of the Thames, Waterloo Station and the Royal Festival Hall. The capsules seem like they can hold 20-30 people, but there were only 8 of us allowing plenty of room to see all sides.
We disembarked from the London Eye and walked to nearby Waterloo Pier to get tickets for a Thames cruise on a City Cruises boat. There are actually several different boats that cruise the Thames. We bought tickets to cruise to Greenwich. The tour guide was very funny as he poked fun at the buildings we saw and he seemed to be one of those that wasn’t into modern art as he wasn’t impressed with the Tate Modern. The buildings we saw included Charing Cross station that supposedly looks like a locomotive train engine; the Egyptian Obelisk, Cleopatra’s Needle, the oldest structure in London; Royal Festival Hall; OXO Building; the historic all-boys school with statues of Winston Churchill, Isaac Newton, William Shakespeare and David Beckham (that name mentioned as a joke, I believe); the Tate Modern; the Millennium Bridge; the replica of Shakespeare’s globe theater, replica of Sir Francis Drake’s ship, the Golden Hind; the nondescript London Bridge; the Tower of London; the Tower Bridge, under which we passed; the glass dome of London City Hall; the WWII warship HMS Belfast; the pointed glass dome of the Swiss Re building (the international insurance company for which my former boss now works, though he’s in the Calabasa office and not in London) which the locals call the “Gherkin” which means pickle because it slightly resembles one; the old warehouses on the East Thames now converted to overpriced condos; and finally the built-up trendy London area, Canary Wharf.
Our cruise arrived in Greenwich about an hour after leaving Waterloo Pier. As we approached we could see the tall masts of the Cutty Sark and the Old Royal Observatory in the distance with it’s time ball lowered. After disembarking we walked past the dry-docked Cutty Sark into the town of Greenwich. We got some sunscreen at a Boots pharmacy to protect against the unexpected sunny weather. Then we went to lunch at Goddard’s Pie House to try some authentic English meat pies. I had the steak and kidney pie while my wife had the cheese and onion pie and the rhubarb crumble for dessert (not the Beebobareebob kind from Prairie Home Companion, but probably just as good). The food was very good and reasonably priced. After lunch we walked towards the Observatory in the middle of Greenwich Park. We planned to see the time ball rise at 12:55 pm and drop at exactly 1:00 pm Greenwich Mean Time as it does every day. In the 19th century sailors would use the ball to set their ships’ clocks. We found a good place to view in a shady outdoor hall near the Maritime Museum. We saw it rise and drop and it did so slowly similar to the ball dropping at New York’s Time Square for New Years.
We walked back to the Cutty Sark and self-toured that 19th century tea clipper. Its name means “Little Shirt” in the ancient Celtic language and it comes from a Robert Burns poem about the protagonist being chased by witches wearing little shirts. The Cutty Sark is a very large ship with at least two levels below deck, the lower one housing a collection of statues from the bows of different ships. It was interesting to learn the history of the ship and see its crew and officer quarters above decks.
We returned to Greenwich Park and hiked up to the Old Royal Observatory. On the hike we had great views of Greenwich Park, Greenwich Naval College, the Millennium Dome, and the buildings of the Canary Wharf area of London across the river. We got to the top and saw where they had the Prime Meridian line marked on the ground. We took pictures of us with one foot in each hemisphere (east and west) though it was very crowded with other tourists taking pictures. Next we walked around inside the observatory viewing all the antique astronomical equipment and especially the exhibit on the determination of Longitude in the 18th century. We saw the large refracting telescopes and a modern clock that used lasers to keep time more accurately.
In the late afternoon we walked to the Docklands Light Rail (DLR) station near the Cutty Sark and took the rail to Canary Wharf where we caught the Tube back to South Kensington. Our Travelcard covered the DLR in addition to the Tube. We noticed one of the DLR stops had a cute name, Mudchute. On the way home we stopped by Harrods and visited their extensive food halls where you can buy take-out food of just about any kind. Our original plan had been to eat at the Green Man Pub in Harrods, but that place seemed very pricey. So we just got some take-out food at the food halls. I had a croissant sandwich and my wife had some Indian food. We took the Tube back to our apartment and ate dinner there. After dinner I went shopping for some bottled water and found a market even better than Harts: Waitrose just next door to the Gloucester Road Tube station.
After breakfast we took the Tube early to Waterloo station on the south bank of the Thames. We got directions from someone at the station and walked to the British Airways London Eye, the 500-foot tall Ferris wheel built at the millennium. We arrived before it was open and had bought tickets in advance online. The line was unexpectedly very short and we got into the second capsule boarded of the day. The Eye moves constantly all day and gives spectacular views of London. We saw great views to the northwest of the steeple of St. Martin-in-the-fields and Nelson’s column in Trafalgar Square, to the west of Buckingham Palace, to the south of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, and to the East of the Thames, Waterloo Station and the Royal Festival Hall. The capsules seem like they can hold 20-30 people, but there were only 8 of us allowing plenty of room to see all sides.
We disembarked from the London Eye and walked to nearby Waterloo Pier to get tickets for a Thames cruise on a City Cruises boat. There are actually several different boats that cruise the Thames. We bought tickets to cruise to Greenwich. The tour guide was very funny as he poked fun at the buildings we saw and he seemed to be one of those that wasn’t into modern art as he wasn’t impressed with the Tate Modern. The buildings we saw included Charing Cross station that supposedly looks like a locomotive train engine; the Egyptian Obelisk, Cleopatra’s Needle, the oldest structure in London; Royal Festival Hall; OXO Building; the historic all-boys school with statues of Winston Churchill, Isaac Newton, William Shakespeare and David Beckham (that name mentioned as a joke, I believe); the Tate Modern; the Millennium Bridge; the replica of Shakespeare’s globe theater, replica of Sir Francis Drake’s ship, the Golden Hind; the nondescript London Bridge; the Tower of London; the Tower Bridge, under which we passed; the glass dome of London City Hall; the WWII warship HMS Belfast; the pointed glass dome of the Swiss Re building (the international insurance company for which my former boss now works, though he’s in the Calabasa office and not in London) which the locals call the “Gherkin” which means pickle because it slightly resembles one; the old warehouses on the East Thames now converted to overpriced condos; and finally the built-up trendy London area, Canary Wharf.
Our cruise arrived in Greenwich about an hour after leaving Waterloo Pier. As we approached we could see the tall masts of the Cutty Sark and the Old Royal Observatory in the distance with it’s time ball lowered. After disembarking we walked past the dry-docked Cutty Sark into the town of Greenwich. We got some sunscreen at a Boots pharmacy to protect against the unexpected sunny weather. Then we went to lunch at Goddard’s Pie House to try some authentic English meat pies. I had the steak and kidney pie while my wife had the cheese and onion pie and the rhubarb crumble for dessert (not the Beebobareebob kind from Prairie Home Companion, but probably just as good). The food was very good and reasonably priced. After lunch we walked towards the Observatory in the middle of Greenwich Park. We planned to see the time ball rise at 12:55 pm and drop at exactly 1:00 pm Greenwich Mean Time as it does every day. In the 19th century sailors would use the ball to set their ships’ clocks. We found a good place to view in a shady outdoor hall near the Maritime Museum. We saw it rise and drop and it did so slowly similar to the ball dropping at New York’s Time Square for New Years.
We walked back to the Cutty Sark and self-toured that 19th century tea clipper. Its name means “Little Shirt” in the ancient Celtic language and it comes from a Robert Burns poem about the protagonist being chased by witches wearing little shirts. The Cutty Sark is a very large ship with at least two levels below deck, the lower one housing a collection of statues from the bows of different ships. It was interesting to learn the history of the ship and see its crew and officer quarters above decks.
We returned to Greenwich Park and hiked up to the Old Royal Observatory. On the hike we had great views of Greenwich Park, Greenwich Naval College, the Millennium Dome, and the buildings of the Canary Wharf area of London across the river. We got to the top and saw where they had the Prime Meridian line marked on the ground. We took pictures of us with one foot in each hemisphere (east and west) though it was very crowded with other tourists taking pictures. Next we walked around inside the observatory viewing all the antique astronomical equipment and especially the exhibit on the determination of Longitude in the 18th century. We saw the large refracting telescopes and a modern clock that used lasers to keep time more accurately.
In the late afternoon we walked to the Docklands Light Rail (DLR) station near the Cutty Sark and took the rail to Canary Wharf where we caught the Tube back to South Kensington. Our Travelcard covered the DLR in addition to the Tube. We noticed one of the DLR stops had a cute name, Mudchute. On the way home we stopped by Harrods and visited their extensive food halls where you can buy take-out food of just about any kind. Our original plan had been to eat at the Green Man Pub in Harrods, but that place seemed very pricey. So we just got some take-out food at the food halls. I had a croissant sandwich and my wife had some Indian food. We took the Tube back to our apartment and ate dinner there. After dinner I went shopping for some bottled water and found a market even better than Harts: Waitrose just next door to the Gloucester Road Tube station.
RSS Feed