Greenwich and Dinner

June 12, 2013 Wednesday

Leaving both Lisa and Rick behind and making good use of our Oyster cards (tube/bus passes), Pete and I set out for Greenwich.  We got off the train at the Cutty Sark stop, and sure enough, we could see the famous boat waaaay down the road.  We didn't walk down to see it (no wheelchair today), but instead headed for the National Maritime Museum.  Pete was very happy to visit this place.

Happy Pete with National Maritime Museum in the background:

We spent several hours in this museum.  We didn't get photos of the parts I thought were most interesting.  There were extensive exhibits on the slave trade, the British East India company, various explorations, and war at sea.  These exhibits tended to be in darkened, non-photo-friendly rooms.   The information was presented in an honest, no-excuses manner.  We did take a few photos in well-lit areas.

The huge Fresnel lens from the Tarbat Ness Lighthouse of Scotland was in use from 1982 to 1985.

Fancy royal pleasure boat:

This 1933 armored boat looks like something from an old science fiction movie:

This is an anchor!  When it sinks in the seabed after being dropped, the upward-slanted teeth prevent it from being drawn up.  

We made our way up this hill to the Royal Observatory.  Unfortunately, we had spent so much time in the National Maritime Museum that we weren't able to linger at the observatory.

The Prime Meridian:

Tour begins on Meridian Plaza:

Adjacent to Meridian Plaza is the Flamsteed House, a beautiful building designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1675 on the instructions of King Charles II.  It was the original observatory at Greenwich, and John Flamsteed was the original Astronomer Royal.  One of his successors was Edmund Halley.  We climbed the stairs to the Octagon Room at the top of the building.  This room was intended to be an observation room, but it never really worked out for the astronomers.  Even though the views of the skies are great, there are too many walls and the windows aren't lined up in a useful way.  Now the room is used for "corporate events" and as a display area for historic clocks and paintings.  Until a second observatory was constructed on the property, most of the important astronomical observations were made from a little shack near the Flamsteed House.

Octagon Room:

The Flamsteed House has a wonderful exhibit about time and longitude.  In order to determine one's location, both latitude and longitude must be known.  Latitude is easily determined by measuring the angle of the sun.  But an unerringly accurate clock is needed to determine longitude.  Pendulum clocks are fairly accurate, but they don't work well at sea.  John Harrison solved the longitude problem with his increasingly accurate series of clocks.  I've read Longitude by Dava Sobel, so was anxious to see the Harrison clocks.  The Flamsteed House has all four of his clocks on exhibit.  The first three clocks were big cumbersome boxes.  The fourth and best clock looks like an oversized pocket watch.

Harrison's final clock -- H4:

We reluctantly left the Royal Observatory to make our way back to London.  Actually we weren't all that reluctant, because we were going to dinner in an Iranian restaurant with one of Lisa's friends.  The food was absolutely FANTASTIC.  The photos don't do justice to the meal.

Appetizer -- Flatbread with assorted dips:

The main course was a work of art.

Dessert -- Peppermint tea and a baklava-like pastry.

Saying farewell to this sweet lady:

Rick's next destination is Poland, where he plans to meet a friend and head for that Tatras to hike.  Public transportation couldn't get him to Luten Airport early enough for his early flight the next day, so he decided to take the last bus/train on Wednesday and sleep in the airport.

Sibling Farewell:

Last good-bye on Lisa's staircase:

We were thrilled that Rick was able to be in London with us.  Since he lives in Tblisi, Georgia these days, we don't get to see him in person very often.  Thank you Rick!