The Prime Meridian – Where east meets west
September 23rd, 2007 by Zofia
On Saturday my flatmate Rachel and I headed down to Greenwich, home of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). This couldn’t have been easier to get to – the Jubilee line to Canary Wharf then change to the Docklands Light Railway line. Canary Wharf was an impressive sight. I have heard so many Londoners say bad things about the glass city that is Canary Wharf, but my first impression was one of awe. I absolutely loved the architecture of this area and the clean feeling it had as well. It was a really nice change to be amongst tall glass-fronted buildings (like walking down The Terrace in Wellington) rather than the relatively flat and quaint surroundings of the rest of London, Canary Wharf felt modern!
Once in Greenwich I became even more impressed with this side of town! The small town of Greenwich felt like anywhere but London. Spending the afternoon there felt like spending the afternoon out of London – a mini break without actually leaving town! First on the agenda was lunch. This was found at an organic cafe on the main road, the coffee was nice and the food was lovely – the giant fork for eating lunch was impressive, as was the wooden teaspoon (it was so much more than either a teaspoon or an ice block stick!)
After lunch we discovered the Greenwich Markets which I loved! There was so much art and craft products in these markets and they were all of great quality, I really enjoyed exploring what the markets had to offer, I even picked up a few things here and there. I will definitely go back there – there were lots of great gift ideas hiding within this market!
There were a few roads which were closed off on the day we were visiting and it appeared to be for some sort of festival. Greenwich really knew how to impress me, they turned on a lovely day (sunny but not too hot!) and there were interesting things to see and do as well as live music to dance along to as you walked down the street – Greenwich cast a spell which I fell under!
Next up was the trip up the the Greenwich Observatory and Planetarium – home of the Prime Meridian (where GMT is measured and the point where the Eastern Hemisphere meets the Western Hemisphere – zero degrees longitude). On the way to the top there were some stunning views to be seen:
After having some fun playing with all the hands-on activities in the Planetarium (it was very educational and HEAPS of fun for kids of all ages!!) it was on to more serious matters such as the history of the Observatory, a visit inside a camera obscura (which had an image of the view above projecting onto a table – it looked like a photo you would see on a Harry Potter film where all the figures are moving!) Then we stood in a queue to get the important touristy photo standing on the Prime Meridian!
The trip to Greenwich is well worth the effort, the view is amazing, the Planetarium is fun, the Observatory is informative and the town itself is gorgeous. There is also the Royal Naval College and the Maritime Museum which I have been told are worth the effort, that will have to be discovered on my next trip!
On Sunday I had yet another new experience, this time it was attending a Shakespeare play in the Globe theatre. Rachel, Josie and I went along on Sunday night and got tickets to stand in the Yards (like the poor people did in Shakespeare’s own time!) The play was Love’s Labour’s Lost and it was a lot of fun. The actors use all available space on the stage and even wander through the crowd in the Yards occasionally! The play was really funny and the whole experience was thoroughly enjoyable – especially as the rain didn’t start until I walked in my front door later that evening!! Can’t wait till next season at the Globe, I will definitely go again!
