Around Greenwich

Panoramic View of London on a snowy day, from the Royal Observatory in Greenwich Park

It has been a snowy and cold week in London, but we have still found ways to have a great time. 

We had our friends Robin and Ruth over on Saturday.  The four of us visited the Cutty Sark – one of the fastest tea clippers ever built – which is permanently dry-docked in Greenwich.  It was pretty late when we got to the ship as Robin and Ruth were busy (unfortunately for us  they are not on sabbatical) and they also had difficulty getting here because the tube was experiencing weather delays.  We had a great time at the ship and ended back at our flat for dinner.    Robin and Ruth have spent time in New Mexico so I thought they might enjoy a Tex Mex dinner.  And although London is one of the most diverse cities I have ever visited, that diversity does not extend to Tex-Mex.  Lucy (Robin and Ruth’s college-age daughter) sadly told me a couple weeks ago about ordering nachos at a London restaurant.  Let’s just say that what she got did not really resemble the southwestern treat she was craving!  So I decided to try enchiladas and Spanish rice.  I was able to get pretty close to the enchiladas I can make at home so dinner was great.  We also feasted on some great wine, cheese and biscuits from our local wine shop and artisan cheese shop. 

I am enjoying figuring out British foods.  We are in a great location.  I get most of our fruit and veggies at a local “greengrocer” called the Creaky Shed.  I get our meat at the local butcher, Drings.  And I get fresh fish at a local shop called “The Fishmonger.”  All of these shops along with the cheese shop are just a couple blocks from our flat – I have included pictures in the slide show linked at the end of this post.  Our wine shop is also great – a London chain.  When I went to but the wine for diner on Saturday, the young clerk told me he is going to the US in a month and would be in the Finger Lakes region touring wineries.  I tried unsuccessfully to convince him to change plans and travel to Washington state!  I was able to tell him to visit a favorite wine venue of Tom’s and mine – Bully Hill Vinyards (we were introduced to Bully Hill by my brother-in-law and law school classmate, Mark Costello, who is an IP lawyer and used to live in Rochester.  (Not relevant here, but some of you – especially anyone interested in intellectual property law -- might want to check out the story of Bully Hill!)  In any case, I am truly enjoying “going ‘round” to my local shops every couple of days.

Today Tom and I decided to continue our exploration of Greenwich.  We visited the Discover Greenwich Museum and Greenwich Park.  Greenwich was the location of a major royal castle for 300 years from the time of Henry II until the reign of William & Mary.  Both Henry VIII and Elizabeth I were born here.  The wedding procession for Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII began here.  Unfortunately, the Castle was destroyed during the English Civil War.  Charles II started to rebuild it but ran out of money.  Later Sir Christopher Wren was commissioned to finish the re-building process.  He designed most of the buildings on the site today.  During the re-construction, however, Queen Mary (of William and Mary) decided that instead of a castle, the site should be a hospital for retired and disabled naval officers.  Later in the 19^th century, the buildings became the Royal Naval College.  Since the 1950’s when the Royal naval College moved to a new site, the buildings have house the National Maritime Museum and Greenwich University.  Immediately south of the Museum is Greenwich Park.  This is one of about five royal parks in the London area.  The park houses the Royal Observatory with one of the oldest and largest refractory telescopes in the world and the location of the Prime Meridian – literally where east meets west.  Greenwich Park was the site of all the equestrian events during the 2012 Olympics so some of you might have seen events held at the park on TV.

We had a great day walking around in the snow.  The park is beautiful and was alive with people walking and sledding.  The Brits are out in any kind of weather.  The mom walking with the buggy in our slide show was just one of the many buggy and stroller pushing parents we saw.  They are truly intrepid.  We each took our turns standing on either side of the prime meridian.  I have posted pictures of our afternoon at Cutty Sark and today at Greenwich Park.  We decided to save the inside of the Observatory for a clearer day – you can see from our pictures that today was cold and slightly foggy!

Tomorrow Tom is going to be working on his UI grad school class and I am off to the Fan Museum!  (The first Saturday in February, I am signing up for a workshop at the museum where I can make my own fan --  can’t wait!)  Tomorrow afternoon we plan to walk across the park to check out the Village of Blackheath. 

For now, Here's a link to our pictures from Around Greenwich.

Liz