BES Assignment 6: Greenwich & Docklands

We were fortunate enough to be given tickets for a boat trip down the Thames from Westminster to Greenwich. The day that we went however, the air was so frigid (like most of this Winter/Spring). I enjoyed getting photographs under Tower Bridge. One thing that I was surprised to learn was that for most of London’s history, the Thames was something that most people turned their back too, instead of embraced, as say they did in Paris. Recently, they have been building more housing on the river, which was quite evident on the way there.

Greenwich was quite an amazing experience. First, when you come to London, you don’t expect Greenwich to be some place so easily accessible. On the day I was there, it was quite chilly and miserable, but that didn’t deter from the beauty. To walk to Greenwich was to walk up a hill that some of the most famous scientists have scaled. I really enjoyed looking down from the hill onto the National Maritime Museum. There is something about brown gravel paths that are so entrancing to me.

I wasn’t too impressed with the actual observatory. I think it would be more impressive to see the laser that shoots across the sky to show where the line actual is. What did impress me though was the Maritime Museum. The first thing that caught my eye was the boat they had once you entered the main auditorium. I enjoyed the boat so much because of the gold leaf and I find the symbols on the boats to be quite interesting. Thinking about it, the symbols that I saw were not only sought after, but also had such a specific meaning to the captain or whoever boat it was. It is something that really hasn’t transpired over unto our time.

Once I left the Maritime Museum, I headed off to the Greenwich Market. I found it much cozier than markets in central London. It seemed that the people who were selling at this market were just people who had things they were proud of and wanted to sell them as opposed to people who just wanted to make money. Also, I enjoyed how small it was.

I didn’t eat in Greenwich because I tried walking home through Canary Warf. On the way, I walked through Millwall. It was honestly the scariest part of London I have been in so far. The people seemed hard and the buildings seemed intimidating. I was happy to get out of there and into Canary Warf. I crossed the maze that was the warf, and ended up on West India Quay. I ended up coming back to this area because of the amount of restaurants, which honestly were both reasonably priced and completely delicious.

Overall, I think that it was a good trip and I see myself back in Canary Warf, either for business or pleasure, but I am not sure if I would ever go back to Greenwich on my own. It was a nice town, but I could see something more someplace else.