Friday started off with breakfast. Mark and Beth made us bacon rolls, which was bacon on rolls. But delicious none the same. Around ten we caught the tube at St. James to Westminster, which is one stop. We got out of the tube station right at the pier though. We boarded the boat and headed toward Greenwich; I don't remember how long but maybe 30-45 minutes. It was nice to see all the buildings along the river. Some of the pictures are blurry because the windows in the boat were fogging up.
London Eye and aquarium
The Globe Theatre
Under the London Bridge
Tower Bridge
We finally made it to Greenwich. It was maybe a five minute walk up to the Royal Observatory, also a tad foggy. But the view was spectacular.
The trek up.
Queen's House, part of the view
If my dad were coming to visit I would definitely bring him here. I think he would like it a lot. Maybe next time. The Royal Observatory is also home to the Prime Meridian, where time starts, so awesome. The observatory is free which is really nice. There was a small garden on the little path to the meridian line.
The garden.
I really enjoyed seeing the green grass. In the city you don't see much green grass until you head to the park. I'll make a confession here, I haven't been to the mark since the first day I got here. And I live a couple minutes away from one! Soon, I still want to see more of Buckingham palace. Darn cold. I went and got to see the line they have marked down for the Prime Meridian, they have different cities named on it with there longitude (I believe that is the one). And I stood on both sides at the same time :) I had to.
On the East and West hemisphere
I did hang out some on the East hemisphere for a bit, who knows when I'll be back, well probably when I travel, but when do I actually get to stand on that side and personally know it. It started raining, uh, of some sort, it wasn't rain but not snow, and wasn't necessarily hail or sleet. Freezing rain? Anyway, I was one of the last of the group to leave, I hung out with myself for most of the day. I stopped at the gift shop and got myself a magnet and something for my dad. Though he probably doesn't need it I wanted to get him it anyways. Dad, you'll find out in March! I headed down the hill and then off to the Maritime Museum, which has a lot of old knick knacks, like coins, busts, barges, boats, a propeller from a boat, a model of a light from a lighthouse. Also they had a room full of pictures from when General Nelson was returned to Britain after the battle of Trafalgar. They had his uniform there, the one he wore when he died, his stockings and also a ribbon and some of his ponytail, which they call pigtail. Kind of strange to have his hair there, but oh well. Trafalgar Square here in London is in memory of him. When I go back I'll have to get a better picture of the huge monument but he's way at the top of it. It was really interesting to see it, also wanted to take my dad there. I then headed over to the Queen's House, which Queen Anne had wanted built. I believe it was started in 1618, and the architect was Inigo Jones. Queen Anne never saw it finished, I'm assuming she died. The house was finished in 1638 and went to Henrietta (something :s). I looked through two galleries in the house, also it was only lived in by royalty for two years before the start of a war, then it eventually got turned into the Royal Naval Hospital, orphanage, where they housed boys and taught them how to run ships. They had a big ship in the yard out front, back then at least, where they practiced. Really neat.
Queen's House
After I was done at the Queen's House I headed to Cafe Sol, which is a Mexican restaurant in town, table for one it was. Kind of depressing but it was fine, I looked at dad's gift and ordered a spicy beef burrito. Nothing beats a La Cabana, La Jua's or Panchero's burrito though. When I was done I went and sat with Carissa and Allison, when they were done we headed out. We stopped at a souvenir shop on the way back, I got something for my mom, Matt and a few postcards for myself. Hopefully I send them out soon. After I write on them of course. We then headed into the tunnel, that goes under the river to the other side. We decided against paying for the DLR. We then decided to take the bus back, most of the way. Going in the tube all the time you get to miss the city. We sure saw it, kind of interesting. Very busy as well, but it was a Friday afternoon. which reminds me, it sometimes seems to me that people don't work here. I know that there are millions of people in London, but even during weekdays it still seems very busy. We took two different buses and ended up at Tottenham Court Road. We were planning on taking another bus back in the opposite direction, so we cross the street and start looking for a bus stop. After walking a block or so we are wondering where the stops are, then realize it's a one way road. Yeah, so we took the tube back, much faster.
When we got back I headed to my room to relax and warm up. I ended up watching The Time Traveler's Wife. Good movie, very good, and sad. After the movie I headed down to make some tortellini. Then the rest of the night was left to relax and sit around in my lonely room. I hope everyone else had a lovely Friday :) Too bad you didn't visit a different hemisphere, but maybe next week. Morgan you can't talk, you're probably in the other hemisphere :p Cheers
William Herschel's telescope, what is left of the 40 ft one
He discovered Uranus
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