Hello all! Here’s the second posting of the London Getaway Weekend.
Saturday
We booked a cruise on the Thames just to see the city from another perspective and also, just to enjoy a bit of tourist stuff. It was really good. It was narrated all along by a pretty funny guy that had the same tone of voice as Marvin in Hitchhiker Guide to the Galaxy but including some jokes here and there. The boat ride was about an hour and fifteen minutes and took us from the Houses of Parliament to Greenwich, the home of meridian zero.
The cruise boat we took.
We went under all the bridges of the river, each one with its own story. Did you know that the Thames is a tidal river? The river is tidal in London with a rise and fall of 7 metres (23 ft). All along, the narrator pointed out some interesting buildings and wharves and some fun stuff about it too.
Waterloo Bridge
Blackfriars Bridge
Millennium Bridge with St-Paul's Cathedral
Forgot-the-name Bridge
Do you know why Canary wharf is called like that? Because all the boat going there where from the Canary Islands. Today, 3 of the tallest buildings in the UK are located in Canary Wharf, the tallest being called One Canada Square (aka Canary Wharf Tower). The “tour guide” also explained where the word wharf came from. According to him, it’s an acronym of: Ware-House at River Front. But, someone I know dug a bit deeper and realise that it’s actually a bacronym. It comes from the old English hwearf meaning “bank” and “shore”. Less interesting but accurate!
Tower of London
Tower Bridge
After this mini cruise, we ended up in Greenwich where we walk around the town and saw the Old Royal Naval College first designed and build as a hospital in 1696 by Sir Christopher Wren. He was a really well know English architect who did 55 churches after the 1666 Great Fire of London and St-Paul’s Cathedral.
Old Royal Naval College by Sir Christopher Wren
Happy Annie!
After that we ended up in the Royal Observatory where we saw an exhibit on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and the prime meridian. It is quite fascinating to see why and how people develop the idea of a portable an accurate time measurer. It was needed for the ships at sea to be able to establish the East-West position (longitude). The problem was so hard to resolve that the British Parliament offered a 20,000 gbp (2.77 millions gbp today) reward to however would find a solution. John Harrison, after many years of work, invented the marine chronometer. The solution was at last found. Ships at sea were able to locate themselves more accurately which increased efficiency and speed of transport and delivery and also, reduced the death of sails man lost at sea.
View of Greenwich and Canary Wharf in the distance from the Royal Observatory.
At the Royal Observatory. The notch in the roof is where the prime meridian is.
Little girl playing around the bronze roof of the movie theater.
Sunday
We decided to take it easy on Sunday and booked and afternoon tea in one hotel near Oxford Street. I loved it! Sandwiches, scones, deserts and little chocolates, what more can you ask for? Delicious, relaxing and typically British!
Afternoon Tea!
I think I will stop here because if you have been reading all the Wikipedia pages linked in this posting, it means you have been sitting in front of your computer for about 8 hours. That’s what happens when you live in a city full of history. Hope you still enjoy this blog!
