The first thing I think about when I hear Greenwich, England is the Prime Meridian. Today we took a boat trip from Westminster to Greenwich. It was a chilly day, so by the end of the 45 minute trip, I was frozen, but it was so worth it to sit on top. I got to see so many buildings that I have already seen, but in a whole new way. I really liked when we got to go under Tower Bridge because we walked across it the day before and it was really neat to see the structure of the bridge from under it, rather than on top of it.
I also learned some new interesting facts such as that Tower Bridge used to be known for suicides, the site of this pub near Canary Wharf is the site of executions of pirates, and the water of the Thames is so clean that you can drink it, but there’s so much silt in it that you have to chew it at the same time.
When we arrived at Greenwich it reminded me of a seaside town because of the river and the wind. We first visited the Royal Dining Hall, which was where sailors would come to dine. When I walked into the space I was immediately blown away by the detail. The entire ceiling of the main room was painted. There were paintings on the other ceilings and walls as well. There was a huge arch with golden ornamentation and a dome at the door. This space was not what I expected it to bet. It was so much better.
Then we crossed over to the Chapel of St. Peter and St. Paul. Again, I was blown away. I was not expecting such a small chapel to be so ornately decorated. There were these huge decorative circles on the top and a painting at the front of the church. The choir was getting ready to practice so there was organ music playing in the background. It was a great experience. The space was truly beautiful.
After this, we decided to venture up to the Royal Conservatory to see the Prime Meridian. The walk was actually much faster than it looked, but the end was pretty steep. Once we made it to the top, we went to the lookout and an amazing view of London and Canary Wharf was revealed. You could even see the O2 Arena. The sun was setting too leaving a glow about the city.
Around the corner, behind a gate was the Prime Meridian line. On one side is the East and on the other, the West. There were a lot of tourists at this location, taking a picture standing with one foot on either side of the line. So, naturally, I had to take a picture with one foot in the East and one foot in the West.

Standing on the Prime Meridian

We walked back down and through the park to the small town of Greenwich. We walked around for a bit looking for a restaurant. There were so many options, but eventually we settled on a cute place called Cafe Rouge. I ended up having Demi Poulet with Frites, which basically was half a roasted chicken with French fries. It was really good! We found our way back to the DLR and came back to the hotel.
I really enjoyed my time in Greenwich. The boat ride was a great way to get to the town, while seeing all of the surrounding sites. The town of Greenwich was very nice and I wish I could have spent more time there.