London:
Boat Ride to Greenwich
We took a weekend tour boat to Greenwich, with live commentary by a pretty good tour guide.
The trip took about 2 hours, and was really fun.
The London Eye makes one revolution every 30 minutes. We really want to go on it
sometime.
We didn't get a good pic of Big Ben before, so here is one!
The former house of the British governement, now the largest aquarium in Europe.
St. Paul's Cathedral. Looks better from the other side.
A replica of Sir Francis Drake's Golden Hind. This replica sailed around the world several
times, and you can now go aboard (for a fee of course).
Looking over the side of the boat at the HMS Belfast and Tower Bridge.
The spire on the right was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in commemoration of the Great
London Fire. Interestingly, the Great London Fire allowed Sir Wren to make a name for himself
almost single handedly redesigning London.
An interesting mix of old and new architecture.
The Tower of London. We are near the Traitor's Gate.
Further away from Westminster now, near the Isle of Dogs. After arriving in Greenwich,
we went to the Greenwich Market that sells crafts, and then headed to Goddard's Pie and Eel House
for lunch.
Next, we headed up to the Royal Observatory, where the meridian (0
degrees longitude) dividesthe Earth's eastern and western hemispheres. It is that building on the
hill, designed by Christopher Wren.
Looking back at the Isle of Dogs from the Royal Observatory. Most of the skyscrapers
are only a few years old. At the bottom of the picture is the Queen's House and behind that the
Old Royal Naval College and National Maritime Museum.
Here is Robin (quite appropriately) at The Queen's House.
We went in The Queen's House and viewed the art collection there. Then we took the
boat back to Westminster and went home.