Exploring Neighborhoods - Greenwich

To do something a bit different this weekend, we headed to Greenwich with our friends Eric & Erica - an American expat couple (Eric works for EY).

Greenwich is located about five miles southeast from the center of London and is known for its maritime history and giving its name to Greenwich Meridian (0 degree longitude) and Greenwich Mean Time. Greenwich also is known for its large park behind the Naval Academy that provides a great view of London and Greenwich village. 

We took the Thames River Link, an extension of the tube network, that makes stops along the River Thames to Greenwich Pier. Taking the Thames River Link is a nice way to see the London sites near the river. The boat passed the London Eye, Parliament, Big Ben, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, the Gherkin, the Shard, and so on.

When we arrived at the pier, we set out to see the Royal Observatory and Prime Meridian as it was due to close in about an hour. While we are happy that we saw it, the Prime Meridian is a bit underwhelming. I much preferred the Royal Observatory house and its unique position atop the hill overlooking London.

 

After viewing the prime meridian and touring the museum, we spent some time atop the hill taking in the view.

We then headed down the hill towards the village to check-out the Greenwich Market. Greenwich Market is a smaller scale market that has a little bit of everything. We got to the market a bit before close so the crowd had thinned making it really pleasant to walk through. We both picked up small gifts for friends and decided it was time for a pint.

We wandered into a pub with an outdoor patio. The pub was near the river and the museum ship Cutty Sark (above). A rain cloud started moving in but a bit of drizzle was not enough to move us indoors. A table of nearby Brits even complimented us for not being bothered by the rain. Maybe we are starting to fit in?!