Greenwich, England May 8th

Our last day of the trip was in Greenwich England. Greenwich is a suburb of London.
We started out this morning walking on our own through the city to the Queen's House and the Old Royal Naval College. We specifically went there to see the Painted Hall. Designed in the early 18th century by  Sir James Thornhill, the Painted Hall features more than 3,700 square meters of Baroque walls and ceilings. These surfaces are covered in striking images depicting 200 figures including kings, queens and mythological creatures. We has an excellent tour guide that took us through all the paintings in the hall from the zodiac around the scene on the ceiling in the main hall to each of the noble characters portrayed on the back wall. You could spend weeks in there studying the history of each painting, the contents and the historical significance of it all.
We then walked through the gardens which are a very welcome sight since they are in the city and a huge open space for everyone to enjoy. There is a college there and people all around enjoying the sunshine, blue skies, grass, trees and nature. It was a great walk and you would not think that you are in such a large city.
We then had a bite of fish and chips and pint of beer at a local pub, then more walking to the Royal Observatory where they studied the stars in ancient times. The only way that sailors could navigate back then was by the stars and understanding them. This is also the place of the prime meridian and the location of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) where all the time zones are based on.
We then walked some more and found another pub for fish and chips and a pint before heading back to the ship.
Our luggage is all packed, and ready to go for our trip home early tomorrow morning...Read more