BES 6: Greenwich

BES

Assignment 6

Greenwich: Imperial Legacy and Future Prosperity

            On Friday March 16^th along with my study abroad group, I spent the day in Greenwich. We traveled to Greenwich by boat. It was neat to see the different attractions off of the Thames River. On the boat tour we were given bits of information about each attraction. Most of the information and attractions we had already seen, but the beauty of London never gets old. Greenwich is a district south of London, located in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. Greenwich is most notable for its museums. We also learned that Greenwich Park will host the Olympic and Paralympics Equestrian competitions, plus the combined running and shooting event of the Modern Pentathlon. Once we arrived in Greenwich we made our way to the Museums. In order to get to the museums we had to hike a massive hill that was as steep as it was long. It was quite the workout and we were all out of breath by the time we reached the top. Mark, our program direct jokes about taking the trip out of the program because hiking the hill is that awful!

            Once we reached the top our first stop was the Royal Observatory. Greenwich is the home of Greenwich Mean Time and The Prime Meridian of the World, making it the official starting point for each new day and year. It is also home to the UK’s largest refracting telescope. My favorite part about the Royal Observatory was getting the opportunity to stand on the Prime Meridian and across it. It was neat to say that I have officially been in two hemispheres at once. We also made our way to the Queen’s Gallery. The Queen’s House is from the 17^th century and represents a turning point in English architecture. It was originally the home of Charles I’s queen, Henrietta Maria. It now displays a fine art collection.

            After touring the museums we made our way to the markets. I found them to be very similar to the clothing, food, and other items sold at markets in London’s centre. We found a Mexican restaurant to eat at and ended up getting free drinks and appetizers just because! Afterwards we got gelato at a shop called Black Vanilla. It was by far some of the best ice cream I had had and they gave you a good amount for your money as well! After spending the afternoon in Greenwich we hoped on the DLR to Canary Warf. The DLR was really cool it was like a mix between the tube and a train. It was a lot nicer than the tube, and we seemed to get to our destination a lot quicker. Once at Caney Warf we spent our time just walking around and observing the area. I had been there once before and really enjoyed it. It is very modern and reminded me a lot of the United States with the tall skyscrapers. In a way it didn’t really feel like London and that bothered me a bit. Overall Canary Warf was pretty and I loved all the ports it had and restaurants around the edge of the river. One night we went out for dinner along the river there were many lights and a little fire. It was a lot of fun!