Monday and Tuesday, May 8-9, 2023 – Days 138-139 onboard
We have arrived at the last port of our grand adventure, ‘Ole London Town.
After leaving the port of Dover around 6 pm on Sunday, we sailed for the river Thames. We are on what is classified as a small cruise ship, which allowed us to travel upriver and dock in Greenwich. It was estimated that we would enter the estuary about 11 pm. Because we are so far north at this time of year, full darkness doesn’t happen until nearly midnight, so we went to the Explorers Lounge on Deck 7 forward to see what we could see.
We were not disappointed. As we sailed into the Thames estuary, against the backdrop of fading twilight, we got a great view of one of the Army style WWII Maunsell Fort installations. In seven different locations at the mouth of the Thames, both the Army and Navy used these structures to defend Britian against air and sea attack.
We lost the light as we got closer, so I’ve borrowed a stock picture of what they look like in the daylight.
Fun fact – In 1967 one of the installations was occupied and declared the sovereign state of Sealand. At that time the tower was in international waters. Since then, in 1987, the United Kingdom extended its territorial waters; the platform is now in British territory. Even so, if you have a desire to hold a noble title, you can, for a small fee, become Knight, a Lord or Lady, Baron or Baroness and if you want to invest the big bucks, you can become a Count or Countess. Just visit sealandgov.org.
As the tides dictated our ability to get upriver, the plan was to reach Greenwich by 3 am. Ever the faithful mariner, Jeff set an alarm for 1 am to watch as we sailed up the river. I on the other hand decided I wanted a few hours of sleep and awoke about 3 am. I found Jeff sitting out on our balcony, watching the London skyline, just as we were docking.
Scenes captured by Jeff (as I slept) along the twists and turns on our journey up the river Thames.
Isn’t the moon spectacular?!
As we approached our dock, we passed the London Stadium originally built for the 2012 Olympics; now used for all sorts of events.
Here we are passing the West India Docks at the Isle of Dogs as we prepared to dock.
Docked upriver in Greenwich. This was an interesting dockage. The ship was tethered to an anchored pontoon platform. We used a ferry to come further upstream (from where the picture was taken) to disembark and explore Greenwich.
Don’t know if this is the same Uber we know as the ride service at home, but that was the name of the Thames River bus transport we used.
We began our walking tour of Greenwich with a visit to the Cutty Sark, a British clipper ship built in 1869. She was the last of the tea clippers to be built and one of the fastest until steamships began to rule the seas. She was named after the sheer shirt or chemise (a ‘cutty sark’) worn by the fictional witch in Robert Burns’ poem Tam o’ Shanter published in 1791. According to the story, Tam o’ Shanter, riding on his horse, is being chased by a witch, who comes so close to catching him, that she pulls the tail off his horse. You can see the scantily clad witch, holding a horse’s tail, on the prow of the ship in the picture above.
Once used transport tea from China to London and then wool from Australia to London, the Cutty Sark is now a dry-docked museum here in Greenwich.
As we walked along near the Ministry of Defense, we came upon this statue of Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618). He was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. As a financier, he played a leading part in English colonization of North America. In 1603 shortly after Queen Elizabeth I died, Raleigh was accused of treason against her successor on the word of a supposed friend. Raleigh argued that the evidence against him was hearsay, but the tribunal refused to allow his accuser to testify and be cross-examined. Raleigh’s trial has been regularly cited as influential in establishing a common law right to confront one’s accusers in court.
National Maritime Museum
Our next stop was at the National Maritime Museum. There was an art installation on the grounds between the Maritime Museum and the Old Royal Naval College. Thirty-six globes, make up the outdoor art experience called The World Reimagined. These giant globes, each a unique artwork, are laid out across the lawns of the museum.
Next, off to the Old Royal Naval College.
The Old Royal Naval College
The buildings of the Old Royal Naval College, designed by Christopher Wren, were originally constructed to serve as the Royal Hospital for Seamen at Greenwich built between 1696 and 1712. The hospital closed in 1869. Between 1873 and 1998 it was the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. Several of the buildings are now used by the University of Greenwich and Trinity Music College. As we walked past the practice rooms, the music of a variety of different instruments snuck out of the open windows.
Beautiful carvings atop the colonnade between buildings at the Maritime Museum adjacent to the Old Royal Naval College. They depict the famous battles of Admiral Horatio Nelson’s career. Nelson is widely regarded as one of the greatest naval commanders in history.
A banner announcing the celebrations being held over Coronation Weekend.
Sea Cadets Coronation Parade | Monday 8th May
We happened upon the practice for the Sea Cadets Coronation Parade to be held later that day. 450 Sea Cadets from across the UK, including their marching band, were scheduled to pay tribute to His Majesty The King. Joining the Sea Cadets in the parade were over 100 the Army Cadet Force, the RAF Air Cadets, the Volunteer Police Cadets, St John Ambulance, the Fire Cadets, and Scouts; all from the London region. We were told they were expecting a Royal to review the parade. Rumor had it that it would be either Princess Anne or William and Kate. We’ve not been able to confirm whom, of if, a Royal attended, but here was a definite buzz in the air. Our tour guide was quite excited.
Such young faces!
Standing at the back of the Old Royal Naval College looking up hill to the Queen’s House (built during1616-1635). Queen’s House is one of the most important buildings in British architectural history, due to it being the first consciously classical buildings to have been constructed in the country. It was revolutionary in its day. After its short use as a royal residence (the occupants didn’t care for it), it became the Royal Hospital for Seamen. It is now part of the National Maritime Museum.
Further up the hill, behind the Queen’s House, you can see the Royal Observatory. It played a major role in the history of astronomy and navigation, and because the Prime Meridian passes through it, it gave its name to Greenwich Mean Time. Since 1884, nations across the world have used the Prime Meridian as their standard for mapping and timekeeping. Did you know that that term has been replaced with Coordinated Univeral Time (UTC) – I don’t know where I’ve been, but I missed the change of term.
Unfortunately, we ran out of time to go up and see the Royal Observatory.
Viewed from the North Bank of the Thames you can see the Old Royal Naval College bracketing the Queen’s House and barely make out the Royal Observatory at the top of the hill. Queen Mary II requested that the Queen’s House always have a view of the Thames, so when Christophe Wren designed the Royal Hospital for Seaman (now referred to as the Old Royal Naval College) he had the two buildings constructed with a separation exactly equal to the width of the Queen’s House. His original plans blocked the view, which became known as “Christopher Wren’s faux pas”.
Walking back towards the quaint town and our starting point, just past the turnoff to the Royal Observatory we passed by one of the Maritime Museum buildings and this very large ship in a bottle. We were told it was created for a special temporary exhibit but proved so popular that they’ve made it into a permanent exhibit.
I’d love to come back here to Greenwich and go through all the museums and get up to the Royal Observatory. Plus…
Greenwich has Nando’s! Nando’s is a South African ‘fast casual’ food chain that specializes in Portuguese flame-grilled peri-peri chicken. We first discovered Nando’s on a trip to London and then stopped at one in the airport in Johannesburg, South Africa. We were on our way to a mission trip in East London, S.A. and met our team there. We have made sure to stop in on our subsequent visits to London. We were very happy to find a location right at the ferry stop next to our ship. Nando’s isn’t yet in California, so it’s an infrequent treat!
Looks like it’s shaping up to be a real ‘pea souper’ of an evening. As the tops of the buildings start to disappear in the fog.
We decided to say farewell to London with an evening Thames River Cruise as our final world cruise excursion. Because this tour began late in the evening, before we left our ship for the river tour, we had to be fully packed, with our luggage outside our cabin. The crew would spend the night ferrying all the luggage onshore, where we will claim it in the morning and make sure it gets on the bus to the airport with us. For now, we’ll put thoughts of our trip home on hold while we enjoy a narrated, scenic float up the Thames.
Approaching the Tower Bridge.
The Tower Bridge stands in contrast to the modern buildings of the London skyline.
The lights of the Tower Bridge, opened in 1894, were starting to come on as we sailed beneath it.
Passing the Palace of Westminster, the home of Parliament and ‘Big Ben’. The tower was actually called the Clock Tower until it was renamed the Elizabeth Tower to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012. The bell in the tower is named Big Ben.
It is getting darker as we pass the Palace of Westminster and sail under the green lights of the London Bridge. Fortunately, the fog hasn’t descended any further.
Our river cruise is coming to an end as we head back down river. We now have the Palace of Westminster on our left and the London Eye on our right.
We weren’t sure we wanted to spend the last night of our adventure off the ship, but we’re glad we did. It was a relaxing couple of hours, and we got to see London with her grand buildings and bridges lit beautifully.
On our way to the airport in the morning, traffic on the freeway was so bad our driver got off and wound his way through the streets of London. We got an unexpected, narrated tour of London and passed the Palace of Westminster once again. In the glaring light of day, the reality of 21st century life is visible in the armed guards at one of the entrances.
12th-century English monarch Richard I, also known as Richard the Lionheart, reigned from 1189 to 1199. His statute stands in the Old Palace Yard outside the Palace of Westminster, facing south towards the entrance to the House of Lords.
Formed in 1909, MI6, or Military Intelligence, Section 6 building sits along the bank of the Thames. We didn’t see James Bond or Tom Cruise, but one of those pigeons on the lawn might be a covert agent!
After a building fire snarled London traffic, turning a normally 45 min. to 1 hr. trip to the airport into a 2-hour tour, we arrived at London’s Heathrow Airport. Check in went smoothly and we were able to enjoy the Virgin Atlantic lounge for about an hour and a half as we awaited our gate assignment. Our aircraft was changed to one with a different configuration of seats in the last few days which meant our reassigned seats had us sitting across the plane one another, but it gave us an excuse to get up and move around during the trip. After 12+ hours and an uneventful flight we arrived at LAX. Using Global Entry and LAX’s new facial recognition system, we sailed through passport control, baggage claim and customs without talking to anyone. The security implications are a little scary, but very speedy!
Our furry family was happy to see us and greeted us with wagging tails, happy whimpers and as is typical, demanding meows. All is right in our world.
Alas, after 142 days, 3 days in Fort Lauderdale and 139 days aboard the Viking Neptune, our grand adventure has come to an end. I know it sounds crazy, but it was over in a flash. We’ll be writing one, maybe two, more blogs to summarize some of our observations and general travel thoughts, but this is our last location-based blog. Thank you for traveling along with us as we captured our adventures.
We can’t thank Amanda (and Bill & Cindy) enough for keeping the home fires burning while we were away. We love you guys!