Greenwich

Greenwich is one of the most well known areas (or buroughs) of London and is well known for the Greenwich Royal Observatory, built on top of a hill, exactly on the Meridian line. The time of clocks all around the world are based on the time at Greenwich, which is also known as Greenwich Mean Time or GMT. At the Observatory you will also find the official measurements for the English metric system.

The Observatory itself is not in use anymore. The light pollution from London made observations impossible. However, the observatory is now a museum and is open for the general public. You can walk around it, stand on the Meridian line (or stand with one foot on the western and the other on the eastern half of the world :+) ) and admire beautiful views of North London. Of course you can walk around in the park surrounding the Observatory and, because no cars are allowed in the park, escape from the noisy and the busy City.

Close to the Observatory you will find the Millennium Dome, which was opened to the public throughout the millennium year. As mentioned before, this area is the centre of the world concerning time measurement. Therefore, it made sense that the Millennium Dome was built on (or at least close to) the Meridian line. It is now closed and is actually a mill stone around the city's neck as it costs millions per day while it is of no use to the community.

In the area you will also find Cutty Sark, a beautiful clipper ship which was launched on 22nd of November 1869.In is one of the last remaining sea clippers in the world. It is now a museum where you can receive more a wide variety of relics from all kind of ships like coastal steamers and so on. You will also receive more information about the Cutty Sark itself, her design, the trading history and about the industries that would use the services of ships like the Cutty Sark. 

Nearby you will also find the Queen’s House and the Maritime Museum. Or you can also visit the market, where you will find a wide variety of stalls offering you goods from clothes, fresh coffee, cheeses to stamps and first day covers for stamp collectors..I have not been able to visit these yet but as soon as I have, you will find the information about these attractions on one of these pages.

Next to that, you will find several restaurants in the area. I can recommend the Chinese noodle house Tai Won Mein (in Church Street). This restaurant is really busy and you have to sit at wooden tables on wooden benches that are not really comfortable. However, it is one of the few places where you can eat for less then 5 pounds per person while the food is extremely good. You can also learn how to eat with chopsticks, which is an art in itself. :+)

See the website of Greenwich 2000 for more information.