Greenwich

So this weekend we went to Greenwich, a southeastern burough of London. It wasn't exactly the plan - we were planning to go on a boat cruise of the Thames, but were running late (as usual), so by the time we got to the dock, the only boat was heading east not west. We jumped on quickly without being completely clear on what we were getting - slowly realizing we had bought a ticket to see Greenwich not the river tour we were hoping for. Nevertheless - we had nice boat-themed day.

map of the river tour - we went East instead of West

On the Boat
Heading east from London Bridge dock, we went under the bridge and along the river until arriving at Greenwich. It was about a half hour trip with some nice views of the city.

passing by the Tower of London

London Bridge

on the boat

really really on the boat

At the Naval College

So Greenwich is either known for being a naval hospital, a naval college, or the site of Thor's battle with his brother (I'll let you decide which was most famous). We toured the beautifully symmetrical grounds for a while. 

scone break

so bad at group selfies

so symmetrical

At the Naval Museum
Then we went to the Naval Museum which was free and on the way to the Observatory. There were a lot of nice boats and a great kids' area to play in.

cheesy smiles in front of a boat

Frederick's barge

fishing in the kids' area

raising the sails

Climbing the Hill for the Observatory

Then we started a slow climb to the top of the hill, where the observatory is located. The observatory is where the location of the Prime Meridian was set - the 0 degree line that separates the East and West hemispheres and also sets Greenwich mean time. Apparently there's a big red ball on top that drops at exactly 1pm every day to set the time zone, from which the phrase "keep your eye on the ball" is apparently derived. The views were great, but the observatory turned out to not be free. So we walked around briefly and headed back down.  

view from the top of the hill

getting tired after climbing to the top of the hill

other people who were willing to pay 10 pounds to take a picture on the prime meridian (not us). 

Heading back to the Boat
On our way back down the hill, we swung by the Cutty Sark - a famous clipper ship from the tea trade era (also not free). And then we jumped back on our boat to head back home.

The Cutty Sark. 

lunch break on the boat

Mulled wine turns out to be the most amazing thing. 

So our first touristy adventure was a success. Not what we were planing on - but a nice boat-themed day anyway. Maybe next time we'll take the boat going the other way where all the sites are located.