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.
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