Travelogue: Greenwich

What can I say about London that you don’t already know? Besides being the most visited tourist city in the world with its disrepute monarchy, London indeed has a lot to offer. First of all, its cultural diversity needs to be applauded. Asian restaurants, African shops, Belgian chocolatiers, Parisian fashion are all testimony of its cultural richness that is so starkly visible at every turn.
What’s amazing is the seamless merge of history and modernism on every street. It’s beautiful. When in London one definitely pays homage to the cliché tourist sites like Big Ben, Buckingham Place, Madam Tussard’s, the London Bridge, the Tower of London, Shakespear’s Globe Theatre to name a few important sites. Window-shopping on Oxford and Reagent Street etc is mandatory. But, a cruise down the Thames puts its beauty in perspective. Riding all day on its world famous ‘underground’ subway system is a way to observe interesting characters and places. London is a home away from home for a lot of people. Currently it’s for me too.
But what I realize is that while everybody goes to London, Greenwich is clearly a place that lives off the tourist trade. It was just our second day in London and I was glad our very first trip was to Greenwich. We are 14 South Asian journalists from India and Pakistan who are here for two months on a scholarship at the University of Westminster.
April 1, 2012, a cold and pleasant Sunday morning was the day when we got together along with our co-coordinator and guide Dr Daisy Hasan to go on the river cruise to Greenwich. What better way to get to know each other.
We get to Westminister Pier from Bayswater tube station at Hyde Park and on to the boat for the tour of Greenwich. Down the river, we are treated to humorous narration, but it was actually informative if one listened to the narration carefully.
As I listen, I find out that he is not a professional guide but one of the boat crew and they write their own patter, complete with jokes about ex-wives and the Traitor's Gate. For forty-five minutes, we motored between the banks of the Thames, passing interesting sights such as the new Globe Theatre, the London Eye and the Canary Wharf.
Finally, we arrived at what appeared to be a very quaint village. Nautical at every turn, I felt Greenwich is one of the many places overlooked by the steady onslaught of tourists that flock England every second. I think a trip to Greenwich should be mandatory if you are really interested in history, art and geography. The Greenwich Meridian (or to the layman ‘Prime’ Meridian) runs through here. The world-known university that cranks out the best of geographers lives here. The Maritime Museum, The Trinity College of Music, the Queen’s house and the Royal Naval College are just a few of its assets.
Along the bank of Thames as you enter the Greenwich Pier, there you see this magnificient and gigantic ‘Cutty Sark’- the beautiful tea clipper which bears testimony to its past. Compasses and anchors at every turn. The mere tourist may not find this intriguing and one wonders if only geographers are interested in coming to this place, but believe me it is interesting and you definitely do not have to be a geographer and know about longitudes and latitudes to visit Greenwich.
Unfortunately we could not get on the ‘Cutty Sark’ as it was being restored. This magnificient ship has been in the dry dock since 1954. A complete renovation is estimated to cost £25 million. The Cutty Sark Trust has secured a grant of £12.95 million (consisting of a £1.2 million development grant and £11.75 million Stage 1 pass) from the Heritage Lottery Fund.The fully refurbished ‘Cutty Sark’ will open to the public on April 26.

The Cutty Sark was launched in 1869 for the tea trade -- and those ships had to be fast, because in those days before refrigeration and cheap hermetic sealing tea did not travel well. The precious leaves became weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable after too long in hold. The fastest and most beautiful sailing ships ever made were built so Londoners could have a fresh cuppa in the morning.
Our next halt was at the National Maritime Museum and the Royal Naval College. But, couple of us just decided we wanted to sit around in the garden outside the Naval college and immerse ourselves in the surrounding beauty.
Across Romney Road with its public entrance on King William Walk, the Royal Naval College permits the public access to only two areas namely the Painted Hall, the 400-seat dining room and site of Britain's formal state dinners, and the Chapel, considered one of England's best acoustic halls where many chamber music works are recorded.
The Baroque-styled Painted Hall, which is part of King William Court, was designed by Christopher Wren, the architect of St. Paul's Cathedral, and painted by James Thornhill. As we entered this magnificient Painted hall, which is now in use as a dining hall and is one of the spectacular function venues in the country was being dolled up. A grand dinner to celebrate the 100 years of Battle of Trafalgar had been organized in 2005. We also got to know some of the royals would be present as well for this dinner. A look at the paintings it appears to open the ceilings to heaven. One is so mesmerized by those paintings and you wonder how on earth did Thornhill manage to paint the ceiling?
Then you have the famous ‘Trinity College of Music’, the world-renowned music college which is now part of the Old Royal Naval College. It is housed in the elegant riverside buildings of the former. llaya Raja, one of the leading music directors from our South Indian film industry and A R Rahman have studied at this famous Trinity College of Music.
We then walk along the Queen’s House towards the Royal Observatory which is quite a long walk from the Old Royal Naval College.
While we did not roam inside the house, there are some interesting details of the house. Like for instance Inigo Jones designed it in 1616, introducing Palladian architecture to England. It is admired for its Great Hall and Tulip Staircase. The house, which was presented by Charles I to his French wife Henrietta Maria in 1635 is now part of the National Maritime Museum. The Queen's House also features a conservation studio and an artist-in-residence.
The group decided to now trek up to the Royal Observatory although one could take a shuttle bus (£1.50 each) up to the top of the hill to the observatory. We walked along the Greenwich Park crossed it then trekked up the small hill where the Royal Observatory was situated. The seven pounds that is charged to get into the Observatory was quiet a dampner and most decided against going inside and instead took pictures from outside. But if one did go inside one could get to see the Royal Observatory and it's zero degree longitude marker.
The observatory stands as a monument to navigational research. It is the original home of Greenwich Mean Time and is famous being the source of the Prime Meridian line that divides the East from the West (longitude 0° 0' 0'').
In the courtyard of the Observatory, and just outside, are brass strips set in the ground and walls marking the exact site of the line of the meridian. It is therefore possible to stand astride the line, with a foot in each hemisphere; a favourite tourist occupation.
Oops after all that excitement I looked at the watch and it was 1.30 pm and it was time for lunch and oh boy we had to climbed down that hill and find a place to eat. We find our way straight to the Greenwich market and believe me the highlight of the day’s trip to Greenwich was the visit to the market. With its colourful multi-cultural atmosphere, the market is known for some variety of good food and beer.
We decided to get back to the banks to get the cruise at 4.30. As we descended the cruise in the morning we were told that the last cruise from Greenwich was at 5.30 pm. Back on board the cruise we were once again subjected to the guides talk. Thankfully having walked so much at Greenwich we were extremely tired and I caught a short nap for 30 minutes till we were back at Westminster Pier and back to the London City.