Greenwich

View from the Observatory Hill at Greenwich

Last Saturday 10th May a bunch of us decided to go to Greenwich. Getting to Greenwich is quite interesting as you have to catch the DLR(Docklands Light Rail) to get there. This is similar to the Monorail back in Sydney and it goes through Canary Wharf with great views of the Docklands. When we arrived in Greenwich all the other guys were waiting for us. The group consisted of Chi, Christina, Minh, Jem, Myle, Pramod and I.

First order of business was lunch. We found a great cheap Chinese restaurant with massive servings. The food was great for the average price of 4.5 pounds! After lunch we headed to the Cutty Sark to begin our podcast walk of Greenwich. The Cutty Sark is the World's last tea clipper ship that famously burnt down last year. Now its in repair so you cant really look at it. We walked past the Cutty Sark by the Thames path through the gardens of the Royal Naval College which has been coverted to a visitor centre, the Trinity College of Music and the Greenwich University. Greenwich University is one of most beautiful universities I've seen with hsitoric buildings, lush green lawns and amazing views of the Thames. We stopped to enjoy the area and take some photos.

The walk then continued inland across the road to the entrance of Greenwich park which leads to the Royal Observatory on top of the hill. The park was very beautiful and full of people. We headed up to the Observatory through a gorgeous tree lined path. At the top of the hill of the Observatory you can enjoy unparalleled views of the Greenwich and greater London in the distance. The Observatory is unique in that it is where the time meridian passes through with longitude of zero degrees, one half of the observatory is in the eastern hemisphere and the other is in the western hemisphere. It also houses a museum of old clocks, telescopes, first sea going chronometers which helped to accurately calculate longitude. This is very interesting if you have the time to go through and look at the displays.

We walked on to the grassy area of the Observatory hill and took some time to relax. The views of Greenwich were beautiful and provided some great photo opportunities. The park was full of people having picnics, throwing frizbies and sun baking. Parks are the London equivalent to the Sydney beaches.

After some dozing on the hill we headed down to the Greenwich markets in the hunt for some ice cream. Greenwich markets are not as large as some of the other markets in London but it still has an interesting collection of stalls of jewellery, decorative items, food, clothes and collectables. At this stage we were quite tired so we had some ice creams and went on the DLR back home. I highly Greenwich for its history, beauty and wide open spaces. If you ever go make sure the weather is good, otherwise the whole experience will be diminished.

See more photos of us out and about in London here.