London Day 3
The next day we went to Greenwich
And took a boat ride to get there-fairly early. The first part is that the boat company runs later on weekends-didn’t mention that on the website. And we got out at Westminster Pier, across from the eye. That subway stop was disgusting. We had to walk through rivers of pee and litter-filled tunnels. I was so grateful to get out into the air and beside the Thames it was beautiful with shaded benches, a cool breeze and watching buskers on the local bridge. Frank had scoped this out the week before so he nicely stood before the locked kiosk and people queued behind us-quite orderly (I will say that Brits have this to an art form and I appreciated it immensely)
They opened and we got our tickets. The boat rides are not officially “tours” so the captains basically give a spiel that is more “story” than “history”. At the end they take tips for their commentary. We were in the open air and it was very nice. I was glad I’d worn jeans because it was cool on the river. We arrived in Greenwich and there was a nice green, a visitor’s center. The Cutty-sark exhibit and then, past the main part of town, the British Royal observatory.
We marched through so Frank could straddle the Meridian and we wouldn’t pay the 16 pounds to stand on the big meridian. We did get some souvenir hats. We couldn’t believe how fast Greenwich filled up as the day wore on-it looks like the “the” Sunday destination for locals with kids. It reminded me a lot of Nantucket with quaint shops, parks and very expensive houses located close to the street and filled with tourists. One clever vendor set up between two houses in a tiny kiosk selling ice cream and hot dogs and they were doing a great business. It would have been easy to walk by and not see them!
A shop we ended up coming back to was Nauticalia and if you read the reviews you’ll see why. We bought more souvenirs there.
We grabbed lunch at Goddard’s at Greenwich and it was full (good sign) and I want to say “thank you” to Germany for getting me accustomed to sharing tables so we smoothly went to the second level and slid into a long table to eat.
They had decent pies and Frank tried eel for the first time. I was curious and tried some of his. My taste analysis is this-it tastes like fishy crab, texture like really soft haddock or cod with a vague syrupy coating on it. Would I seek it out? No. Would I eat it before eating okra ? Yes. Not a recommendation. And you okra lovers, good for you and NO I will not believe you when you tell me there is a delicious way to prepare it, because you are liars. It was the first full meal I finished in Britain that wasn’t a quick scone, croissant or granola bar and Frank even commented on it.
Anyway, the place was getting REALLY crowded so we took a look around, Frank agreed to take a boat back rather than try to walk or do the underground and we had an inside seat on a cruise boat back to the subway and back to our hotel
We visited Forbidden Planet and saw Godzilla
And took a boat ride to get there-fairly early. The first part is that the boat company runs later on weekends-didn’t mention that on the website. And we got out at Westminster Pier, across from the eye. That subway stop was disgusting. We had to walk through rivers of pee and litter-filled tunnels. I was so grateful to get out into the air and beside the Thames it was beautiful with shaded benches, a cool breeze and watching buskers on the local bridge. Frank had scoped this out the week before so he nicely stood before the locked kiosk and people queued behind us-quite orderly (I will say that Brits have this to an art form and I appreciated it immensely)
They opened and we got our tickets. The boat rides are not officially “tours” so the captains basically give a spiel that is more “story” than “history”. At the end they take tips for their commentary. We were in the open air and it was very nice. I was glad I’d worn jeans because it was cool on the river. We arrived in Greenwich and there was a nice green, a visitor’s center. The Cutty-sark exhibit and then, past the main part of town, the British Royal observatory.
We marched through so Frank could straddle the Meridian and we wouldn’t pay the 16 pounds to stand on the big meridian. We did get some souvenir hats. We couldn’t believe how fast Greenwich filled up as the day wore on-it looks like the “the” Sunday destination for locals with kids. It reminded me a lot of Nantucket with quaint shops, parks and very expensive houses located close to the street and filled with tourists. One clever vendor set up between two houses in a tiny kiosk selling ice cream and hot dogs and they were doing a great business. It would have been easy to walk by and not see them!
A shop we ended up coming back to was Nauticalia and if you read the reviews you’ll see why. We bought more souvenirs there.
We grabbed lunch at Goddard’s at Greenwich and it was full (good sign) and I want to say “thank you” to Germany for getting me accustomed to sharing tables so we smoothly went to the second level and slid into a long table to eat.
They had decent pies and Frank tried eel for the first time. I was curious and tried some of his. My taste analysis is this-it tastes like fishy crab, texture like really soft haddock or cod with a vague syrupy coating on it. Would I seek it out? No. Would I eat it before eating okra ? Yes. Not a recommendation. And you okra lovers, good for you and NO I will not believe you when you tell me there is a delicious way to prepare it, because you are liars. It was the first full meal I finished in Britain that wasn’t a quick scone, croissant or granola bar and Frank even commented on it.
Anyway, the place was getting REALLY crowded so we took a look around, Frank agreed to take a boat back rather than try to walk or do the underground and we had an inside seat on a cruise boat back to the subway and back to our hotel
We visited Forbidden Planet and saw Godzilla