Leaving university at 10 am, the town was quiet post rush hour. Armed with a coffee in one hand, oyster card in pocket and my camera stashed in my bag and boyfriend by my side I knew I was ready for a great day ahead. We caught the Metropolitan line to Finchley Road switching on to the Jubilee Line to Westminster, now I know (that if you know London) you may be thinking why are they going to Westminster and because unbeknownst to many TFL run a boat clipper service from Westminster pier to Greenwich pier, on Oyster.
The boat was cool and calm, the new a flashy leather lined seats gave an aura of luxury, the only time TFL have ever exuded this through their services. The water of The Thames lapped against the edge of the boat, its currents strong and although muddy its surface still glinted in the rare glimpses of sunshine breaking through an overcast and gloomy sky, not unusual for London. The scenes around us changed from the glass fronted, steel skeletoned buildings that were topped in smog to low-lying, river-hugging, modern built blocks of flats and renovated quays and docks still donning their proud and historical brickwork as we neared Greenwich. This method of travel although longer is definitely worth the extra effort as it is a welcome breath of fresh air from the stuffy underground, and instead of staring into black tunnels you’re seeing London from a perspective that not many have.
Upon arriving in Greenwich you are instantly struck by the lofty iron, steel and wood structure that although in dry dock appears to be floating on a silvery wave… The Cutty Sark. Entry, combined with The Royal Observatory, is £18.50 although with a valid student card you can pay a concession of £15.50, a remarkable discount especially when paying for two. It’s recent restoration and influx of lottery funding has seen this piece of heritage that was well overdue become a standout attraction. Although me, nor my boyfriend, aren't particularly ones to stop and read every information post and spend the suggested amount of time here, which I believe is an hour and a half, we were shocked by how remarkable this feat of engineering was. The top deck is the most striking, for sheer scale and how much you feel as if you have stepped back in history, to the days of active sailing, I do get quite sea sick and strangely enough being on this ship, even though docked and still did make me dizzy at some points, an extremely strange sensation. I would highly recommend visiting The Cutty Sark, although it may not be of interest to everyone it is a vital part of Greenwich and defiantly makes Greenwich what it is, alongside the other places to follow.
The Royal Naval College that flanks The Cutty Sark is free admission, however, we didn’t enter, instead, we walked through the beautiful grounds. These grounds have been a backdrop for many film and TV scenes and definitely live up to expectation. This time of year the green verges are bordered by vibrant yellow daffodils, ‘fluttering and dancing in the breeze’ as so eloquently put by Wordsworth. The grounds were tranquil and quiet, beautifully maintained and scattered with grand London Planetrees that although still bare this early in the year are astounding. Walking through the centre of The Royal Naval College is awe inspiring, striking and almost palatial; it is evident that it is a place of extraordinary history and although wechose not to go inside, it’s definitely something I would do next time.
At this stage, 3 hours after our departure from Uxbridge hunger rose in our stomachs and we decided to go on a quest of lunch, that I had romantically planned to eat a top of the hill in Greenwich Park. However, on this search, we stumbled across Greenwich Market, which was on our list anyway but an out of the blue surprise. We scoped out the food stalls and looked, hungry eyed, at everything and wandered around the market before we got lunch. The market is a vibrant, eclectic and a wholly quirky mix of stalls. I would definitely say there is something for all here, and if you aren’t looking for anything - not even a souvenir, it’s even great to wander around. Still relatively untouched by ‘tacky’ tourism it is quite a genuine portrait of Londoners and their lives, which are undoubtedly infused with an up and coming contemporary à la mode vibe. This is a must visit on my list and is definitely one for those with a different eclectic taste, or even those who are looking for quirky gifts or additions to their bookshelf, wardrobe and jewellery box at home.
For lunch we settled on Lam Jam, a stall selling Turkish Street Food, both of us got spinach flatbread topped with every extra available. The taste was remarkable and the seemingly small amount of food was surprisingly filling. For lunch, the price was great and yet still warranted for what we were getting. The flatbread is freshly rolled and oven cooked in front of you, a 5 minute wait and you can top it with whatever is available which for us was rocket, pasta (that was like big rice) mint sauce and a spicy tomato sauce concoction rolled up like a burrito in tin foil, then sliced in half. All in all, it seemed like a completely unassuming meal, and not something I would actively seek out but both Napo (the boyfriend) and I were taken aback by how delicious it was. At Turnips; the juice stall/cafe/sandwich shop just to the left of Lam Jam, we picked up a juice each. A lemonade and an orange with grapefruit juice.
Finally equipped with lunch we meandered to Greenwich Park, a vast open space where the air is fresh and relatively clear (in comparison to the likes of Hyde Park), adorable dogs run around crazily and funnily as their owners chase them around half exhausted and families play. The park is beautiful and upon climbing for a short time to reach the top of any hill, as there are many, the views are simply breathtaking. For me, although the weather was not clear and sunny, it is the equivalent to standing atop The Acropolis, in Athens, just with a vastly modernised and growing skyline. The view is panoramic and a phenomenal accompaniment to an already delicious lunch.
After completely finishing lunch we advanced to The Royal Observatory.
Although The Royal Observatory, again a museum, is well-loved as part of Greenwich I found it remarkably underwhelming. This may have been because, by this stage, I was quite tired and reading museum plaques and looking at seemingly bland artefacts was not within the limits of my attention span but I still think I would have felt quite the same if this had been at the start of our day. We stood on The Meridian and took the typical tourist photo, a rite of passage in visiting Greenwich and headed on to The Planetarium. The Planetarium did, however, pleasantly surprise me. The idea of space has always fascinated me and I'm sure at some point in my childhood I'd wanted to be an astronaut and I guess looking at shards of meteorites and various pretty rocks and models of space are the closest I'll ever be. The stand-alone part of this attraction, however, is the exhibition of Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year which photos I found to be entirely staggering, we both found ourselves staring at the images in reverence and disbelief and of the whole day, these images seem ingrained in my mind the most.
After leaving the Royal Observatory we dropped into Costa for a quick coffee before wandering to the station to head home via DLR, Jubilee and Metropolitan lines, a stuffy and busy journey as we caught rush hour but a time to reflect none the less. A day to Greenwich is something I would highly recommend and although we didn’t see everything, we definitely saw enough for one day and could easily go back for another one! Whether you’re a couple, a family or even a local Londoner who has never been to Greenwich before, and is slightly intrigued, I would highly recommend it.
