Greenwich, the summer home to various British queens of the past, lies just south of the river underneath the ultra modern Canary Wharf. Exiting the tube just north of the Thames (still on the Canary Wharf side), there is a footpath under the mighty river you can take to pass into Greenwich. This is a magical walk that takes only ten minutes but transports you between different centuries. Entering the tunnel on the north side, you leave behind glass behemoths reaching to the sky, filled with financial factory workers churning out spreadsheets on laptops and iPads and firing off emails from blackberries and iPhones. Ten minutes later, you exit the cool of the subterranean tunnel and emerge into the sunny skies of Baroque England in all its majesty.
The beautiful Queen’s House and imperial Old Royal Navy College collectively comprise the base of a gigantic, lush park that slopes up a hill to the Royal Observatory. Londoners, who generally have very little space in the city, make public parks like these their personal backyards on sunny weekends, playing soccer, chasing dogs, chasing kids!, reading, eating, smoking, drinking all to the slow roll of the misty sun tracking across London.
The Royal Observatory houses the official prime meridian line (zero longitude), which, Greenwich residents claim, makes them the first stop in the world. It is quite a testament to the power and reach of the former British Empire that the prime meridian could be established in Greenwich without impunity, thus effectively signaling this little hamlet of London to be the center of the world.
The view from the Royal Observatory is my favorite in all of London. Staring north from the top of the hill you see the massive and regal park anchored by the classical architecture of the Queen’s House and the Old Royal Navy College, while ultra modern skyscrapers from Canary Wharf serve as the backdrop to all of this just across the river. What a juxtaposition?!
Greenwich Market serves loads of mostly delicious street food from all corners of the globe. Wasting a few pounds on cod cakes from Portugal and fried rice balls from Italy is part of the experience for adventurous eaters and heavily outweighed by the rewarding paella and beef & cheddar sandwiches you will eventually find!
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