Greenwich, not just in Connecticut

in Greenwich Park 

So on Monday I got to experience Greenwich for the first time with Genesis.  It was probably my favorite place that I visited so far in London, besides Portobello Road.  It was just so picturesque, and had an essence of the Victorian Age.

We started off our day in Greenwich with a walk to the docks.  Most of the dockyard was under construction-they are building a new museum around one of the schooners.  Anyways we continued on into the Royal Naval College of London.  The campus was gorgeous, there were so many old buildings, we first stopped into the Painted Hall.  The Painted Hall was this cathedral-like space (though not a church) it was massive and the entire space was covered in murals.  It reminded me of what I would imagine the Sistine Chapel to look like.  The murals were beautifully done and depicted the King and Queen as sort of God-like beings.  After the Painted Hall we then crossed over the university and went to the Chapel of St Peter and St Paul.  The Chapel was very intimate but exquisit in detail.  There was also a beautiful painted mural that covered the ceiling.

After the Royal Naval College we walked over to the Museuam area, where the National Maritime Museum was as well as Greenwich Park and the Royal Observatory.  The National Maritime Museum was a pretty interesting museum, they had an exhibition being held of toy sailboats.  It kinda was a museum geared more toward children.  Anyways after the Maritime Museum we went for a walk in the park, following the path up the hill to the Royal Obsevatory.

Greenwich park was absolutely beautiful.  It reminded me a lot of the park that Mary Poppins, Bert and the children go to in the movie, Mary Poppins.  There were a lot of rolling hills, but the largest hill was the one that we had to climb to get to the Royal Observatory.  When we got to the top the views of the city were brilliant.  You can basially see everything from the Gerkin to the London Eye to St Pauls.  So after taking loads of pictures we went in search of the prime meridian.  The Royal Observatory was pretty cool.  There was a planetarium on one end and on the other end was the Prime Meridian.  We first went into the Planetarium but only spent about 20 mintues there because it was really boring.  After the Planetarium we walked over to the area that housed the Prime Meridian.  The Prime Meridian was actually really cool.  There was a laser that pointed in the distance-creating the boundry line that separates the East from the West.  There was also a sculpture that im guessing represented the Prime Meridian as well.  After taking loads of pictures we went on our way.  On the way out we stopped to look at the 24 hour clock.  It was basically a clock with every hour represented on it.  It was pretty neat.

The Royal Naval College, it was gorgeous 

at the top of the hill in Greenwich Park, beautiful views of the London Skyline

the Prime Meridian

the 24 hour clock, there were a lot of clocks in Greenwich

After visiting the touristy stuff in Greenwich we decided to get some food.  We stopped and had a traditional british meal at the Green Village Restaurant.  Genesis opted for the fish and chips, while I had the english roast, which was Turkey with baked potatoes, cabbage and yorkshire pudding.  It was pretty good.  After dinner we headed back to Goldsmiths-it was a nice day. :)