May 4, 2018 - Greenwich, England

We arrived in Greenwich on May 4, but did not disembark until May 5. Believe it or not, this was a tender port. They had big tenders from shore that came to the ship to take us on a five minute ride to the shore. When they took they luggage off, they loaded it onto a barge and floated it to shore. On this first day we did our own tour of Greenwich, a beautiful town on the Thames.

Greenwich, a borough of London along the Thames River, has a cherished maritime history. Here, the world’s longitude is measured from the prime meridian, making the seas more navigable, and Greenwich Mean Time sets the global time standard. The Royal Observatory is the center of it all. This was our first stop. They let us off where they had the Cutty Sark, a legendary sailing ship and the world’s sole surviving tea clipper, and fastest ship of her time.

We then we walked through the Gardens to the Royal Observatory, which is an observatory situated on a hill in Greenwich Park, overlooking the River Thames. It played a major role in the history of astronomy and navigation, and is best known as the location of the prime meridian, and thereby gave its name to Greenwich Mean Time. The Royal Observatory has the IAU observatory code of 000, the first in the list.

The observatory was commissioned in 1675 by King Charles II, with the foundation stone being laid on August 10. The site was chosen by Sir Christopher Wren. At that time the king also created the position of Astronomer Royal, to serve as the director of the observatory and to apply himself with the most exact care and diligence to the rectifying of the tables of the motions of the heavens, and the places of the fixed stars, so as to find out the so much desired longitude of places for the perfecting of the art of navigation. He appointed John Flamsteed as the first Astronomer Royal. The building was completed in the summer of 1676. The building was often called "Flamsteed House", in reference to its first occupant.

Among the many things that we saw was the Royal Naval College. The College stands on ground once occupied by a palace belonging to Edward I and later Henry VII and was where Henry VIII was born, married Catherine of Aragon and Anne of Cleves, and signed the death warrant of Anne Boleyn. 

There was also the Queen’s House. It is noted for its symmetrical proportions and fine marble floors, as well as its wrought iron balustrades and carved and painted ceilings. Begun in 1617, the house had been commissioned by James I but was not completed till 1629.

As we are walking to all of these great places we are passing through Greenwich Park. The day was gorgeous and there were a lot of people just enjoying themselves.

We also visited the National Maritime Museum, which is the largest museum of its kind in the world. 

After the cultural part of our tour we went to the town itself. Our first stop was to St Alfege Church. The church was built on the site where St Alfege was killed by the Danes in 1012 AD. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury at the time and was taken hostage by the Danes after they burnt down his cathedral during a raid on the city. During World War II the church was bombed. On March 19, 1941, a bomb hit the roof, which caught fire and collapsed. Rebuilding began in 1946 and the church was rededicated in 1953. We had a wonderful woman give us a tour of the church.

Next, we walked around and visited the market.

Lastly, we decided to walk to the other side of the river through a tunnel. This foot tunnel was also bombed during the war, but was only out of commission for a short period of time.

Tomorrow we disembark from this very interesting journey. We have a tour in the morning and then we have the next day to sight see on our own. Then it is home.