Greenwich, Tea and the Theatre

One of the reasons we picked the hotel we did was to be close to Greenwich. My mom said in all the times she’d been to London she had never seen it, and a few years ago I stayed right by it for my cousins wedding and just loved the area. 

So in the morning we took the Tube over to start exploring. We got off by the Cutty Sark ship museum, but since we had seen the Golden Hinde yesterday we just walked around it. We found the walking tunnel under the Thames and walked back to the north side. You get a spectacular view of the Greenwich Palace grounds from there, right up past the queen’s house up to the Greenwich Observatory. 

After walking back to the south side we walked along the river to the gates of the palace- which is now the University of Greenwich. This was very much in evidence based on all the people in black caps and gowns celebrating their graduation! It was super fun to see, and the professors in their more colourful gowns too. 

We walked around till we found the entrance to the Painted Hall. This dates to the early 18th century under William and Mary when the building was done for the Royal Navel Hospital. I was lucky enough to be there in 2018 when the ceiling was being restored so I could do a tour on the scaffolding and see it close up. Mom decided she wasn’t too interested in paying just to go in and see the Hall so we carried on. 

Next was the Queens House. Built in the reign of the Stuarts, it’s a lovely little palace just up from the river. It’s now home to a lot of beautiful art pieces, including one of Elizabeth I’s Armada portraits. 

After seeing the art work and a gorgeous restored tapestry in their collection, we walked along Greenwich Park and up the hill to the observatory. Mom and I got our pictures along the Median Line before exploring the park. 

It was quite a lovely day, though we were a bit rushed towards the end as we did have more plans that afternoon.  After changing quickly at the hotel, mom and I headed off for our Afternoon Tea. 

Now this was quite the dilemma. We tend to prefer a classic Afternoon tea and had debating paying for this at one of the grand hotels, like the Ritz or the Goring. But wow, those were pricey!! We settled on having Tea at the Wolosley, a very posh little spot. Formerly a car dealership (in marble!) it was now a little restaurant. We had a lovely tea there. 

Then mom and I walked up to the West End to meet my cousin for some drinks before he treated us to a show. We saw the Time Travellers Wife. It’s really well done, I haven’t read the book or seen the movie, but I really enjoyed it and it had some impressive effects!!