Flashback Friday - Greenwich Park 2018

The weekend had arrived, and the family and others for the wedding would be arriving.  I still had one day of exploring before meeting the family for dinner.  I stayed close to the area and explored more of Greenwich.  Part of it was I was really just getting more into photography and I had some interesting ideas I wanted to try at Greenwich Palace with the shadows crossing the columns there.

I started with a walk along the hotel grounds. As mentioned in previous posts, it was once part of the Royal Naval Hospital and had a small cemetery on the grounds.  Next door was the National Maritime Museum, and beside that was Queen Anne’s House.  The house was built by James I as an apology to his wife for swearing at her, after she accidentally shot his dog.  It’s a beautiful little palace that is now entirely a museum at the bottom of Greenwich Park.  

I enjoyed exploring the palace that had some amazing details, and it was home to a version of the painting of Queen Elizabeth I and the Spanish Armada, which was interesting to see in person.  There is a beautiful spiral staircase with blue tulips for the banister design as Queen Anne was French.  They also had some modern art on display that I found absolutely stunning.

I walked up the hill next, to the Royal Observatory.  The scientist here did thousands of calculations to determine the Prime Meridian, which is zero degrees longitude and divides the east and the western hemispheres.  It was also a big part of setting time zones - which is why its called Greenwich Mean time.

On top of the building is a small pole with a bright red ball, at 12:55 every day it begins rising to the top of the pole.  At exactly 1:00pm it drops.  This is visible from the Thames and allowed mariners to accurately set their watches.  Knowing the exact time helped with navigation around the world.  There is so much more to learn about the history of time and astrology at the museum.  I found it really interesting.  And no visit is complete with out standing with one foot in either hemisphere. 

Next I walked back down to Greenwich Palace and took more photos outside.  I was quite fascinated with the shadows cast by the various columns around the buildings.  

Then it was time to meet up with the family! We started with drinks at the hotel, with cousins from around the world coming to the wedding. Including a beautiful young woman I hadn't seen since her first birthday.  It makes one feel old to be the one suddenly saying "I haven't seen you since you were this tall!" and waving a hand at knee level.

It was great to catch up with the various cousins and my Aunt and Uncle.  I was really happy to have been invited to the wedding and get a chance to see everyone.  Saturday was of course very busy as well, though for me there was mostly staying out of the way and waiting to see if I could be helpful.  At the wedding proper - which was in a gorgeous venue by the Thames, there were even more cousins of my fathers generation over from Ireland.  So it was a wonderful chance to meet people I'd only ever heard about.  

Sunday was a slow day, recovering from the previous night!  The family gathered for brunch at at pub on the grounds of the Palace and spent some more time catching up and telling stories.  Most of the travelers headed home that afternoon.  I had one more night myself before my flight.

There is not much to tell of my last day.  I had the morning before I had to head to the airport.  So with no time to do anything really interesting I went for a jog around Greenwich Park.  In those days I was a bit of a runner.  So I did a 5k loop, stopping for a few interesting sites.  There are some old Roman ruins on the hill, and a 500 year old oak tree, which has mostly fallen over, that is said to have been a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I.  Legend goes she was reading a book under the tree when told of the death of her sister Mary I and her own ascension to the throne. 

Flashback Friday - Stonehenge 2018

 The day began early as I headed out to meet a tour for the day.  I had chosen an archaeologist guided tour that went to the Stonehenge complex, Salisbury and Avebury.  I was really excited.  I had heard Stonehenge was a bit of a “tourist trap” but I still wanted to see it, and I was so excited to hear all about the great Neolithic monuments with such a knowledgeable guide.

We were picked up by the Victoria and Albert Museum to start, it was a small group but included another single woman so we became friends for the day to have someone to chat too.   The bus ride out of London was a bit boring, but likely why we had to start early to be able to get out easily!

The first stop was Woodhenge in the same area as Stonehenge.  The wooden poles have of course all rotted away, but the complex pattern was discovered through the post holes they left in the ground.  The site is interesting to see has it now has short concrete posts to show where the tall logs would have been. It is connected to Stonehenge with its proximity to a large pathway that runs along from the Avon, and Woodhenge, to the great stone monument.  

There are theories about the wood vs stone representing birth vs death and other mystical aspects of Neolithic worship.  Right beside the Woodhenge site we also saw the Durrington Walls, which was a settlement site and speculated to be where the builders lived.  There is evidence of a lot of activity around the winter solstice, showing that the importance of the sites may have more to do feasting during the shortest day of the year than the more publicly known summer solstice that attracts the modern pagans to this day.

Next was the great Stonehenge.  It definitely has its huge visitors centre and long circular route.  But even the end of June I didn’t find it too crazy.  There were a lot of people, but I was never jostled or had people blocking my photos.  The stones themselves were so interesting to see, and to have the small details, like the ring ditch that is what gives it the ‘henge’ name, pointed out just made the trip.  We didn’t stay for the gift shop, and just a quick peak at the rebuilt Neolithic huts, before we headed to Salisbury for lunch.

In Salisbury we also visited the Cathedral which was built in the 13th century when the church decided they wanted to relocate the main church from the near by hill fort of Old Sarum. It has the tallest bell tower in England, the oldest working medieval clock, and a copy of the Magna Carta.  As well the building and the grounds are just stunning.

We explored the medieval town and my new friend and I had lunch in the town square, before getting back on the bus for the next stop.  Driving through the countryside, we stopped to see a Neolithic long barrow, that is right beside Silbury Hill.  The hill is the second largest man made hill in Europe and no one knows what it’s for.  There has never been any remains or structure discovered within, and studies seem to show it likely took decades to be built.  It’s just a big cone in Wiltshire. 

We drove past the chalk figure of the white horse carved into a hillside, which was one of the inspirations for the device for the Riders of Rohan.  Our last stop was the town of Avesbury, which is the only English town built inside a Henge.   The massive bank and ditch would have been carved entirely with antlers.  Within are dozens of standing stones.  Many are still in their original location, but many were thrown down but the Church in days past.  Some were restored by antiquarians.   As well some concrete markers have been installed where there was evidence a stone had stood in the past.

The town itself is beautiful, and interesting to explore.  We didn’t have much time, but I did have a quick half pint at the Red Lion- “the only pub inside a Neolithic Henge.”  It also has the dubious attraction of an ancient well that is now used as a table, and “contains the remains of at least one unfortunate villager.”  Charming!

We got back to London a little late, so it was pretty much right back to the hotel for me!  I was a little frustrated trying to find somewhere to eat, all the more traditional pubs in the area had stopped serving food and the only things open were cheap takeaways.  I did not fly to London to have cheap takeaways!  Although yes, I ended up having some cheap Chinese food.  At least it was pretty good!

Flashback Friday - London 2018

I talk a lot about England in this blog, as I have been a few times.  So this trip I won’t go into quite as many details, but I will talk a bit about the special things I did this time.  I flew to London in the summer of 2018 for a cousins wedding.  That part of the trip was just wonderful, as I got to see family from all over that came for the day,  it was really special and unique.  Most of that part of the trip won’t be interesting so I’ll gloss over that part.

I flew into London on a Wednesday morning. I was staying at the Devonport Hotel in Greenwich.  It was a very interesting hotel which is also part of the University of Greenwich now.  It was a large mansion, that in later years also was the nurses residence for the Naval Hospital.  The hotel is situated right beside the Naval Museum, the Greenwich park and Greenwich palace.  It also has an old cemetery on the grounds that includes monuments from the time of Lord Nelson’s engagements.

Greenwich is an amazing part of London, the old Greenwich Palace is now part of the University of London, was once part of the Royal Naval College.  While there has been a royal palace on the site for centuries, not much remains.  It was called the Palace of Placentia in the days of the Tudors. On the hill behind the palace is the Greenwich Observatory, which is where Greenwich Mean Time started.  One of the original places to think of standardizing time.  There are also many telescopes and examples of early astronomers there.  As well there is a line demarking the Prime Meridian, which isn’t exactly 0° anymore, but that was one of the first places it was discussed. 

On my first day in London, I arrived about mid day and was exhausted from the overnight flight.  I was able to drop my bags at the hotel and push through. I started by exploring Greenwich Palace and had been told by family there was a restoration happening in the Painted Hall.  For a bit extra one could take a tour of the restoration work.  I was a little reluctant, but I am glad I listened to my uncle who pushed for it.

This was an opportunity of a life time I think.  The ceiling of the hall had been done in the era of William and Mary II.  The entire ceiling and all of the walls were painted in beautiful and complicated designs.  As part of the restoration, a scaffolding had been build to just about 7 or 8 feet below the ceiling so the tour went right up close to see the art and the restorers at work.  Some of the design was done with different perspectives, so seeing them up close was remarkable.   

I explored a bit of the grounds of Greenwich Palace next, it is a beautiful building that is featured in plenty of movies from era pieces to elves blowing in up in a Marvel Thor movie.  As it sits along the Thames it was also an excellent place to have a gin and tonic and enjoy the summer sunshine.  While I was walking along the river I noticed a funny little hut by itself.  It turned out to be the entry way to a pedestrian tunnel that runs under the Thames. It opened in 1902 so workers could more easily access the Isle of the Dogs and the docks on the north side of the river.  It was closed during WWII as it was damaged during the Blitz and become unsafe due to threat of collapse.  It is open now and still a popular access point - but check the website before going.  It is a long way down and if either elevator is not operational you might have a lot of stairs in your future.  Especially if one is just going across for a peak!

I had an early night that night, I wanted to be rested and ready for the next day as I was doing a guided tour that included seeing Stonehenge and other neolithic monuments near by.  I had chosen a tour guided by an archeologist and I was excited to learn more about the history of England.