Woolwich

Today started with us at sea. We sailed the English Channel up the River Thames to dock at Greenwich.
Greenwich is a borough in London, England, on the banks of the River Thames. Known for its maritime history, it's home to the Cutty Sark, a restored 19th-century ship, the huge National Maritime Museum, and the classical buildings of the Old Royal Naval College. The modern O2 arena sits on a peninsula to the north. Overlooking peaceful Greenwich Park, the Royal Observatory is the site of the Greenwich meridian line.
It is our final port of call on this World Cruise. Tomorrow we return to our true home.
But before all that we still have today.
We finished our final breakfast in the Restaurant this morning. I think Myron will miss his morning eggs and lamb chops.
Myron watched the morning lecture
by Guest Lecture Mr. Douglas Field:
"Thames Gateway-Access Route to Greater London."
Gain an understanding of the Thames River, Thames Estuary, and Thames Gateway.
Diana got boarding passes printed and then we met in the Explorer’s Lounge for River Thames Scenic Commentary with
Guest Lecturers Russell Lee & Tony
Waltham who provided commentary as Viking Neptune transits the River Thames.
Very interesting. We traversed past the Thames Barrier. It is a retractable barrier system built to protect the floodplain of most of Greater London from exceptionally high tides and storm surges. Each gate is only 300 feet wide and our beam is 94 feet so we are one of the few cruise ships who can sail up the Thames.
Once we were moored we went for a quick look at the Cutty Sark.
Cutty Sark is a British clipper ship. Built on the River Leven, Dumbarton, Scotland in 1869 for the Jock Willis Shipping Line, she was one of the last tea clippers to be built and one of the fastest, at the end of a long period of design development for this type of vessel, which ended as steamships took over their routes. She was named after the short shirt of the fictional witch in Robert Burns' poem Tam o' Shanter, first published in 1791.
We found St Alfege Church which was locked, but along came a guy (Bill) who said he had a key and would we like to see inside? So we had a quick tour and then Myron asked him where he was going and he said a local pub that has cheap beer so we went with Bill to the Pub. Three pints of an IPA was 5.23£ which is a little over $6.00 Yep, cheap beer and good. We returned to the ship.
Our final dinner tonight is with Randy and Vicky at Manfredi’s. We meet in the atrium at 3:45 am tomorrow morning to head to the airport.
What a journey!Read more