Greenwich

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Today, we ventured out of central London to spend a crisp fall day in Greenwich, a city which is in great measure devoted to the maritime glory of Britain.  En route there, via the light rail, we were able to see the Docklands, an area full of massive high-rise office and apartment towers, seemingly a city and financial center unto itself. 

Once in Greenwich, we wandered among the buildings of the Old Royal Naval College, stopping to see the Painted Room and the Chapel, where a Sunday service was in progress.  We wandered around the National Maritime Museum and the Queen’s House, a formal royal residence which now houses enough paintings of maritime battles and portraits of naval heroes to sink a battleship.  After a climb to the top of Greenwich Park to the Royal Observatory, we found ourselves among the crowds eager to stand astride the Prime Meridian, one foot in each hemisphere.  Time of the essence in this spot and, in addition to the observatory, there are exhibits related to both the astronomic and chronologic efforts to determine longitude.  The summit of Greenwich Park was also a wonderful spot for panoramic views of London.

After a short wander through Greenwich town center and the outdoor market , we returned to London by boat along the Thames, past the Docklands, the Tower of London, St. Paul’s, the Tate Modern, and many other places we’ve seen this week.

Our last stop of the day, on our walk “home”, was to Hyde Park to have a look and a listen at the Sunday tradition at Speakers’ Corner.  Even as the afternoon was fading, the speakers were on their soap boxes, orating, reading scriptures, exhorting, and debating their listeners.  There was a large presence of police, as well as a protest group, the English Defense League.  At one point, the bobbies moved in to break up a skirmish between the EDL and their opposite numbers.  Let’s just say that the USA has no monopoly on high feelings vis a vis immigrants.