(Work)trip to London: discovering Greenwich!
Last week(end) I traveled on the Eurostar to England for another businesstrip. I had a day of rest before work, and I decided to visit a part of London that had been on my to-see list for a while: Greenwich Park, the site of the Royal Observatory - the home of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and the Prime Meridian of the world. The trip there and back was even more fun that I had expected; it was such a relaxing, lovely area and I got to go on a fast boat over the river Thames!
Here's a picspam of my adventure :-)
Day 1: travel on the Eurostar(s)
Due to railworks all over the Netherlands, there was no direct train to Rotterdam: I had to change trains and the journey took longer than usual, but hey, more reading time!
Currently the Eurostar is also not going directly to London; due to a renovation of Amsterdam station, there is no space for customs and they temporarily closed customs in Rotterdam as well; all travelers have to go through bagchecks and customs in Brussels before getting on the actual train to London.
As you can see the train does go to France (Yay, Schengen Area!) and I love that they made little Eiffeltowers of the platform roof supports on Rotterdam station.
For worktrips I get to travel first class and on Premier Standard a (cold) meal is served on Eurostar, I chose the Scottish salmon and broccoli quiche, fennel and carrot remoulade, and a delicious white chocolate cheesecake with blackcurrant compote for dessert!
After arriving in London I took the tube and train to my final destination for work (on Monday and Tuesday)
Day 2: daytrip to London
After breakfast I left my backpack really neatly in my hotelroom, because they were gonna try to transfer me to a room with a bath while I was out (didn't happen, oh well)
I loved how the quiet section on the train was explained from the point of view of a quiet traveler.
After train and tube, I got on the DLR for the first time; the Docklands Light Railway is elevated and -especially the part through Canary Wharf- offers really cool views from above.
I got off at Cutty Sark, which is the best stop to reach Greenwich Park (I researched this beforehand:-)
The station exit was on a lovely street with small shops that came out to a large square with this huge glass building with the old tea clipper Cutty Sark (1869) on top of it! Very impressive (It's a museum and you can have an afternoon tea underneath the ship, saving that for a next visit to London!)
Right behind this was the river Thames; I sat down for a while to enjoy the view.
Here are a couple of photos next to each other, panorama style (click to see full size)
From the river I walked towards the park, I popped into the tourist information for a map; the office is housed in the old Royal Navy College, which has a very cool façade.
In front of it a statue of Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618) by William McMillan.
From there I walk to the musuem area at the edge of Greenwich Park, there is a statue of William IV (1765-1837) by Samuel Nixon (1844)
In front of the National Maritime Museum stands Nelson's Ship in a Bottle by Yinka Shonibare (2010).
A 24 hour clock on the gate of the Royal Observatory (set to GMT of course;) and the dome for the Great Equatorial Telescope (I'll climb inside that later)
Standing on the Prime Meridian at 00°00' with one leg in the Western Hemisphere and the other in the Eastern Hemisphere!
The view of London from the Royal Obervatory (can you spot the O2 arena in the East?)
The Royal Observatory was build in 1675 on the ruined foundations of Greenwich Castle. This is Flamsteed house where each Astronomer Royal and his family lived. The red ball on top is the Greenwich Time Ball: every day at 12.55pm it rises half way up its mast and at 12.58pm the time ball rises all the way to the top. At 1pm exactly, the ball falls to provide a signal to ships on the Thames and anyone who wants to synchronize their watch.
I made videos! See the Time Ball go halfway here or Wait (and wait and wait) to watch the Time Ball drop here:-)
Old telescope in the Octagon Room (originally known as the Camera Stellata ('star room'))
South view from the Octagon Room, with in the distance Our Ladye Star of the Sea (Roman Catholic Church).
North-West view from the Octagon Room.
The Observatory is such an interesting place with a whole bunch of rooms on measuring time and determining your location on earth (particularly at sea).
There are lots of different watches and clocks on display; this is a 19th century Chinese dragon fire clock (the lettering is not part of it, that's a reflection on the glass case).
A bus drivers' time recorder by Gledhill Brook (1920s)
In the yard you can see the tube of William Herschel's 40 foot reflecting telescope (1789).
I fear a lot of visitors miss this construction, even though the stairs up the dome are in plain sight, they are in the middle of the tourist shop with a lot of distracting goodies. I did climb up and then went up a spiral staircase to see The Great Equatorial Telescope up close! (It was very quiet there, but so cool with explanations about the telescope and videos of what they discovered with it.
Installed in 1893 and named after the supporting metal structure, called a equatorial mount, which tilts the telescope so it can turn in a plane parallel with the Earth's equator to stay fixed on the stars and planets as they appear to move. (First photo is with my regular camera setting, second is .6 lens to capture the whole installation:)
Astronomia, the Greek muse of astronomy; sculpture on the South Building by William J. Neatby (1890s) - fun fact: he is also the creator of the decorative ceramic work in the meat hall at Harrods.
I sat down in the shade of the Planetarium with a Chai Latte and a sourdough ciabatta with Turkey breast, bacon, Emmental and mayo (I put the tomato and spinach to the side;)
A final look at the massive cone in front of the planetarium (South Building) and then I discover a hidden gate just outside the Observatory with a path going all around to the bottom of the park. I see a butterfly!
A lovely walk through the green park which eventually leads me back towards the riverside (I also visit nearby Greenwich Market).
There's a boat service to Central London that I get on with my Oyster card (Greater London public transport card), I'm thrilled! It goes very fast and takes you along the river with connections to the tube!
I sit inside until the first stop, there enough people get off for me to move to a deck seat with a glass ceiling and excellent view. We go underneath the Towerbridge, so cool!
Best part of my day, wahey!
More bridges \o/ (This is Black Friars bridge).
I get off the boat at Embankment where I do a bit of souvenir shopping before a bit of chilling in the Victoria Embankment Gardens (they have section with beach chairs, very comfy, but hard to get up out of;)
I then take the tube to Oxford Circus and walk to Carnaby Street. This colourful mural depicting London/the Thames by Kristjana S Williams (2012) can be found in Little Marlborough Street.
I have dinner at Mother Mash in Gantonstreet: Champ Irish Mash (with cheddar cheese and spring onions) with a traditional Mince Beef Pie and gravy.
For dessert I have an Apple and Blackberry Crumble with vanilla ice cream.
Back in my hotel I enjoy all the souvenirs and goodies I bought:) What an excellent day!
Day 3 + 4: work, lunch and a swim
Yay, they have hash browns for breakfast.
In between work I lunch with G. at Nando's; I have Peri-Peri Butterfly Chicken with Chips and Garlic Bread. My pink soft-drink is a Strawberry & Dragon Fruit Quencer.
I have discovered a pool nearby and in the evening I take the bus there to go lane swimming for an hour.
For 'dinner' I have a fruited rock cake (with cherries and sultanas), with Cadbury's chocola milkshake and for dessert a Gü Honeycomb Zillionaire, omnomnom.
Day 4: another lucious hotel breakfast :-) We start work half an hour earlier to day to make the most of my limited time here.
For lunch G. and A. take me to a pub and I have a classic Fish & Chips: a freshly battered cod with chips and mushy peas. The meal includes a drink and I choose a Raspberry Refresher (raspberry lemonade, orange juice, lime juice, orange). It's. SO. GOOD!
After my evening swim I do my final shopping at the nearby ASDA (a massive supermarket)
My dinner: Malted bread sandwich with Egg & Cress (that turned out to be so bland, that I gave up after three bites), Pork Puffs and Salt & Vinegar Discos (corn crisps). Drink was my favorite M&S lemonade (fresh and very sour, not available in the Netherlands. While I was in England, I drank nearly a bottle every evening:)
Day 5 breakfast, I will miss you scrambled eggs, sausages and hash browns *happy sigh*.
I had woken up by the sound of a vacuumcleaner, which turned out to be a roomba in the hallway!
I managed to pack all my souvenirs in my backpack, yay!
The Eurostar from London does go all the way to Rotterdam, woohoo!
My lunch: Suffolk chicken with Greek-style spices, tomato and cucumber bulgur wheat salad, tzatziki. Dessert: Mango and passionfruit tart.
I still had to catch two more trains to get to Z., where I cycled home from the station.
The End.
I took so many pictures (There are 10 more photos on my Instagram!) but I also spent a lot of time walking around without making photos. The Royal Observatory is an interactive museum with loads of information on all things related to time and finding our place in the world. I highly recommend a visit!
J.
X-posted from https://beelikej.dreamwidth.org/584170.html [
comments] Lurk or comment wherever you like:)
Here's a picspam of my adventure :-)
Day 1: travel on the Eurostar(s)
Due to railworks all over the Netherlands, there was no direct train to Rotterdam: I had to change trains and the journey took longer than usual, but hey, more reading time!
Currently the Eurostar is also not going directly to London; due to a renovation of Amsterdam station, there is no space for customs and they temporarily closed customs in Rotterdam as well; all travelers have to go through bagchecks and customs in Brussels before getting on the actual train to London.
As you can see the train does go to France (Yay, Schengen Area!) and I love that they made little Eiffeltowers of the platform roof supports on Rotterdam station.
For worktrips I get to travel first class and on Premier Standard a (cold) meal is served on Eurostar, I chose the Scottish salmon and broccoli quiche, fennel and carrot remoulade, and a delicious white chocolate cheesecake with blackcurrant compote for dessert!
After arriving in London I took the tube and train to my final destination for work (on Monday and Tuesday)
Day 2: daytrip to London
After breakfast I left my backpack really neatly in my hotelroom, because they were gonna try to transfer me to a room with a bath while I was out (didn't happen, oh well)
I loved how the quiet section on the train was explained from the point of view of a quiet traveler.
After train and tube, I got on the DLR for the first time; the Docklands Light Railway is elevated and -especially the part through Canary Wharf- offers really cool views from above.
I got off at Cutty Sark, which is the best stop to reach Greenwich Park (I researched this beforehand:-)
The station exit was on a lovely street with small shops that came out to a large square with this huge glass building with the old tea clipper Cutty Sark (1869) on top of it! Very impressive (It's a museum and you can have an afternoon tea underneath the ship, saving that for a next visit to London!)
Right behind this was the river Thames; I sat down for a while to enjoy the view.
Here are a couple of photos next to each other, panorama style (click to see full size)
From the river I walked towards the park, I popped into the tourist information for a map; the office is housed in the old Royal Navy College, which has a very cool façade.
In front of it a statue of Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618) by William McMillan.
From there I walk to the musuem area at the edge of Greenwich Park, there is a statue of William IV (1765-1837) by Samuel Nixon (1844)
In front of the National Maritime Museum stands Nelson's Ship in a Bottle by Yinka Shonibare (2010).
A 24 hour clock on the gate of the Royal Observatory (set to GMT of course;) and the dome for the Great Equatorial Telescope (I'll climb inside that later)
Standing on the Prime Meridian at 00°00' with one leg in the Western Hemisphere and the other in the Eastern Hemisphere!
The view of London from the Royal Obervatory (can you spot the O2 arena in the East?)
The Royal Observatory was build in 1675 on the ruined foundations of Greenwich Castle. This is Flamsteed house where each Astronomer Royal and his family lived. The red ball on top is the Greenwich Time Ball: every day at 12.55pm it rises half way up its mast and at 12.58pm the time ball rises all the way to the top. At 1pm exactly, the ball falls to provide a signal to ships on the Thames and anyone who wants to synchronize their watch.
I made videos! See the Time Ball go halfway here or Wait (and wait and wait) to watch the Time Ball drop here:-)
Old telescope in the Octagon Room (originally known as the Camera Stellata ('star room'))
South view from the Octagon Room, with in the distance Our Ladye Star of the Sea (Roman Catholic Church).
North-West view from the Octagon Room.
The Observatory is such an interesting place with a whole bunch of rooms on measuring time and determining your location on earth (particularly at sea).
There are lots of different watches and clocks on display; this is a 19th century Chinese dragon fire clock (the lettering is not part of it, that's a reflection on the glass case).
A bus drivers' time recorder by Gledhill Brook (1920s)
In the yard you can see the tube of William Herschel's 40 foot reflecting telescope (1789).
I fear a lot of visitors miss this construction, even though the stairs up the dome are in plain sight, they are in the middle of the tourist shop with a lot of distracting goodies. I did climb up and then went up a spiral staircase to see The Great Equatorial Telescope up close! (It was very quiet there, but so cool with explanations about the telescope and videos of what they discovered with it.
Installed in 1893 and named after the supporting metal structure, called a equatorial mount, which tilts the telescope so it can turn in a plane parallel with the Earth's equator to stay fixed on the stars and planets as they appear to move. (First photo is with my regular camera setting, second is .6 lens to capture the whole installation:)
Astronomia, the Greek muse of astronomy; sculpture on the South Building by William J. Neatby (1890s) - fun fact: he is also the creator of the decorative ceramic work in the meat hall at Harrods.
I sat down in the shade of the Planetarium with a Chai Latte and a sourdough ciabatta with Turkey breast, bacon, Emmental and mayo (I put the tomato and spinach to the side;)
A final look at the massive cone in front of the planetarium (South Building) and then I discover a hidden gate just outside the Observatory with a path going all around to the bottom of the park. I see a butterfly!
A lovely walk through the green park which eventually leads me back towards the riverside (I also visit nearby Greenwich Market).
There's a boat service to Central London that I get on with my Oyster card (Greater London public transport card), I'm thrilled! It goes very fast and takes you along the river with connections to the tube!
I sit inside until the first stop, there enough people get off for me to move to a deck seat with a glass ceiling and excellent view. We go underneath the Towerbridge, so cool!
Best part of my day, wahey!
More bridges \o/ (This is Black Friars bridge).
I get off the boat at Embankment where I do a bit of souvenir shopping before a bit of chilling in the Victoria Embankment Gardens (they have section with beach chairs, very comfy, but hard to get up out of;)
I then take the tube to Oxford Circus and walk to Carnaby Street. This colourful mural depicting London/the Thames by Kristjana S Williams (2012) can be found in Little Marlborough Street.
I have dinner at Mother Mash in Gantonstreet: Champ Irish Mash (with cheddar cheese and spring onions) with a traditional Mince Beef Pie and gravy.
For dessert I have an Apple and Blackberry Crumble with vanilla ice cream.
Back in my hotel I enjoy all the souvenirs and goodies I bought:) What an excellent day!
Day 3 + 4: work, lunch and a swim
Yay, they have hash browns for breakfast.
In between work I lunch with G. at Nando's; I have Peri-Peri Butterfly Chicken with Chips and Garlic Bread. My pink soft-drink is a Strawberry & Dragon Fruit Quencer.
I have discovered a pool nearby and in the evening I take the bus there to go lane swimming for an hour.
For 'dinner' I have a fruited rock cake (with cherries and sultanas), with Cadbury's chocola milkshake and for dessert a Gü Honeycomb Zillionaire, omnomnom.
Day 4: another lucious hotel breakfast :-) We start work half an hour earlier to day to make the most of my limited time here.
For lunch G. and A. take me to a pub and I have a classic Fish & Chips: a freshly battered cod with chips and mushy peas. The meal includes a drink and I choose a Raspberry Refresher (raspberry lemonade, orange juice, lime juice, orange). It's. SO. GOOD!
After my evening swim I do my final shopping at the nearby ASDA (a massive supermarket)
My dinner: Malted bread sandwich with Egg & Cress (that turned out to be so bland, that I gave up after three bites), Pork Puffs and Salt & Vinegar Discos (corn crisps). Drink was my favorite M&S lemonade (fresh and very sour, not available in the Netherlands. While I was in England, I drank nearly a bottle every evening:)
Day 5 breakfast, I will miss you scrambled eggs, sausages and hash browns *happy sigh*.
I had woken up by the sound of a vacuumcleaner, which turned out to be a roomba in the hallway!
I managed to pack all my souvenirs in my backpack, yay!
The Eurostar from London does go all the way to Rotterdam, woohoo!
My lunch: Suffolk chicken with Greek-style spices, tomato and cucumber bulgur wheat salad, tzatziki. Dessert: Mango and passionfruit tart.
I still had to catch two more trains to get to Z., where I cycled home from the station.
The End.
I took so many pictures (There are 10 more photos on my Instagram!) but I also spent a lot of time walking around without making photos. The Royal Observatory is an interactive museum with loads of information on all things related to time and finding our place in the world. I highly recommend a visit!
J.
X-posted from https://beelikej.dreamwidth.org/584170.html [
comments] Lurk or comment wherever you like:)