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December, 2004
Lindsey
Ridgway
Greenwich
(pronounced “Grenich”)
Our
trip to Greenwich got off to a rough start as a few
of our fellow students did not make it to the boat in
time, as a result of some delayed Underground business.
Not
ones to let a little thing like that stop us, the other
twelve of us got on the Catamaran Cruiser and got on
our way.
The
river route of travel is really quite spectacular. There
are so many pretty buildings to look at, angles you
would not normally see, and architecture you might not
be able to appreciate from any other viewpoint. Not
to mention the fact that I (unlike some of my sea-sick
companions) love being on boats. I don’t like fishing
or anything, but just being on the river like that,
gently swaying to and fro, was so relaxing. Although
the bitter cold wind was a distraction, I really enjoyed
the ride there.
Once
we arrived, we hit up the information center, and I
stole (well, they were free) as many random maps and
info pamphlets as I could grab in thirty seconds. We
then, as a group, trekked up to the observation point.
I
was tired by the time we arrived to the hill.
Then
I had to go up the hill. As I related it to my father,
I think the hill was at approximately a 756º angle.
Some would say this is a mathematical impossibility,
I would say it is fact.
After
nearly dying of exhaustion on the way up, the view was
actually almost worth it. It was a gorgeous day out,
so our view was pretty much unobstructed. We all ran
to the meridian, so that we could straddle the two hemispheres
(east/west, obviously), and of course took an abundance
of ridiculous photos.
SIDE
NOTE: I would really like to work at that location just
for, say, a week, to see what sort of absurd things
people will do simply because they are standing on what
is basically an imaginary line.
After
the photo shoot, we broke off. Most of the students
went to Goddard’s Pie Shop, where we met up with
those we had lost earlier in the morning. The potpie
was amazing, and fantastically cheap, considering how
good it was.
Now
having satiated our appetites, we ventured down the
street to the Greenwich market. Though it was not vastly
different from other markets in London, it had it’s
own cute, hometown appeal, since it was not in the middle
of hundreds of people and cars and buildings and trains.
I purchased a few bars of soap, one of which was pink
and said “mum” on it, coincidentally, for
my “mum.” She likes that type of thing.
Jen,
Jen, and I (not a typo, there are two Jens) then broke
off and headed to the National Maritime Museum. Though
we were too knackered to see more than a third of the
exhibits, it was a really nice museum. I had also commented
on how nice it was to just be in a museum. I hadn’t
been in a while.
I
plan on making another trip to Greenwich sometime soon,
partly to revisit the National Maritime Museum and finish
exploring the exhibits. I also need to pick up some
souvenirs while I’m there. And of course, we discovered
it’s free to get there again…so why not?
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