Welsand's in London

A Windy Day in Greenwich

Today we ventured out taking the tube and light rail to Greenwich. The views were interesting through the Canary Wharf area, lots of modern buildings, water, and very little green space.

We first explored the Greenwich Market. It is rated in the top five markets of London. It had a nice variety of goods and it was not crowded, always a plus for us trying to get around with a buggy. We enjoyed it.

After a quick lunch we made our way through the Greenwich park to the Royal Observatory which is home of the Prime Meridian (Longitude 0 degrees, 0' 0") Greenwich Mean Time and the world-famous Harrison marine timekeepers. It was founded in 1675 by King Charles II and designed by Sir Christopher Wren. The original purpose was to provide accurate charts of the stars to improve navigation. Of course we had to be true tourists and get pictures with me and Sophie standing on each side of the Prime Meridian line being in two hemispheres at one time! The views of the city are fantastic from the Observatory.



The Greenwich Park was originally the grounds of a royal palace. It is a great park and though the flower garden past peak they still had a lot of color. After taking some photos of Sophie smelling flowers she took a nice nap in her buggy. We took advantage and visited the Queen's House next.

The Queen's House is England's first purely classical building. It was designed by Indigo Jones in 1616 as a retreat for King James I queen, Anne of Denmark. Since that time it has seen lots of changes and been put to many uses. It had some beautiful art, but was quite disappointing as most of it was closed for refurbishment. When London hosts the Olympics in 2012, the equestrian events will be held on the land behind the house. We assumed this is why the house is undergoing extensive work now.


A church of note in the area is St. Alfege. It has significance in English history, most interesting to me was that King Henry VIII was baptized in it. It was a small and basic church having seen a lot of change since the 11th century.

After visiting another small market, we headed to the Greenwich Foot Tunnel. The 1,200 foot long tunnel was opened in 1902 (it looked like it) to allow south London laborers to walk to work in the docks. It was worth crossing to see the views from the other side of the Thames. I have to admit it was a bit unsettling to be walking under the river. Thankfully they have elevators to bring you up and down to the tunnel, the stairs looked brutal!

While the day was very grey and rain was anticipated, we only got a few sprinkles, but the wind was unbelievable strong. And with potty training continuing, Sophie did great. It is amazing at how in tuned you get to knowing where the nearest public restroom is at all times when you have a child in training...

posted by Chris @ 4:17 PM