It was almost dark when we completed our tour at the Royal Observatory Greenwich.

We had less than half an hour to visit the National Maritime Museum before it’s closing time.

The above is Miss Britain III. It was the first single-engine powerboat to exceed 100 mph on open water and for several years remained the fastest in the world.

The above 24-carat gold leaf gilded barge was designed and built by John Hall. It was built for Prince Frederick, King George II’s eldest son in 1732 andwas used for royal occasions on the Thames until 1846.

It is one of the museums largest objects with total length of 63 ft. . The carved work was executed by James Richards. (more…)

After visiting the surrounding area of the Royal Observatory, we went inside to the exhibitions.

The entrance fees for both of us and one audio guide came up to 17.50 pounds. Ben had been here before, so he did not get the audio guide.

The Time and Longitude gallery in Flamsteed House displays various time keeping devices invented for sailors and navigators.

Harrison’s marine timekeeper number 4 (H4). (more…)

We only have half a day in Greenwich. Our first destination was the Royal Observatory.

The Royal Observatory Greenwich is the world’s timekeeper.

Peter Harrison Planetarium in Royal Observatory Greenwich.

Astronomy Center houses the oldest thing you’ll ever touch; a 4.5 billion year old meteorite. (more…)

We arrived in Greenwich just around lunch time.

The above is the Greenwich Market with artisan goods; kind of like Granville Market.

We stopped by Greenwich Restaurant for lunch.

English tea for Ben while I had a Cappuccino. (more…)

We utilized the city pass city cruise tickets to go to Greenwich.

This is the Westminster Pier.

The journey was 60 minutes with narrations. It’s good information for tourists.

View of Blackfriar’s Bridge with St. Paul’s Cathedral in the background. (more…)

Yesterday while strolling the South Bank, we wanted to ride on the London Eye but the line was simply too long. So, we came back early today hoping for a shorter queue.

Nevertheless, the queue was still quite long. We bought the combo tickets for the London Eye and Madame Tussauds for 88 pounds (CAD 145) for the two of us. The ride is a 30 minutes ride with 360 degree rotation.

While lining up for the ride, we noticed that there is one capsule that is red. We told ourselves if we were lucky, we would get on the red one.

Yeah, we got the red one. (more…)

We went to a cafe for breakfast. The cafe is located just around the subway station near the hotel we stayed.

I had a Butter Bread Pudding. It is one of the food on my list must try in London. It was rich tasting.

Ben had a flatbread with tomatoes and cheese. He prefers savoury breakfast. (more…)

We returned to Brick Lane near our hotel for dinner. Brick Lane is the little India in London. It is lined with Indian restaurants.

After exploring the lane. we picked one of the Indian restaurant for dinner. I can’t recall the restaurant name now.

Indian restaurants often serve papadam with chutney as appetizer. The difference between the restaurants here and those in Vancouver is the restaurants here served papadam with four dips/chutneys while in Vancouver, we mostly get two only.

We ordered two dishes to share. The above was Lamb Madras which is supposed to be medium spicy. It turned out quite spicy even to our standard. (more…)

The Millenium Bridge began construction in 1998 and opened on 10 June 2000.

The Millenium Bridge connects major attractions on the Southbank which include the Globe Theater and the Tate Modern to St. Paul’s Cathedral on the north side of the bridge.

View of the Tate Modern from the Millenium Bridge.

View of the Shard from the Millenium Bridge. (more…)

Shakespeare Globe is one of the several attractions on the South Bank.

This is a replica of the Elizabethan theater opened in 1997. The original Globe was built nearby in 1597 after Shakespeare and his company transported a playhouse, timber by timber, across the Thames from Shoreditch. In 1612, during a performance of Henry VIII, a stage cannon sparked a fire and the wooden structure burned down completely. Now, the theater is equipped with water sprinklers.

The original Globe seats more than 3000; 2200 seated and 1000 groundlings. Today’s Globe seats 800 and accommodates 600 standing.

The plays Hamlet, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet all had their premieres at the original Globe Theater.

We joined the half hour Globe Theater tour of the auditorium. The guide explained to us the history of the Globe Theater. The upper level seats were for higher class audiences while the cheapest tickets were for standing audiences. The word box office came from the practice where the price for the tickets were dropped into a box which will be brought up to the office to tally.

The Globe has always been an open-air roof theater. Performances are held in the summer only.

A view of the stage from the ground where lower class spectators will stand and watch. In the old days, such theater play was meant for rough people and that’s the reason theater was not allow in the city of London which is on the north side of the Thames. Spectators usually came over by boat. This area was used to be called Surrey. (more…)