Greenwich – A Traveling Fool

December 2, 2025

London Adventure: The Second Simply Red Concert at London’s O2 Arena

Breakfast had many more people than the day before. I figured it was a combination of my getting up later and the strong likelihood that several of my fellow breakfasters had also attended the concert the night before. This time I had a table facing the window, but it wasn’t right next to the window. No problem. Just wanted to get some good food and start my day.

The tickets for the concerts were all electronic. I had the ticket for the first night at the O2 on my phone (in the O2 Arena app) before I left home. My ticket for the OVO Arena Wembley concert was also already on my phone, in the OVO Arena app. But my ticket for the second night at the O2 was not on my phone. I had followed up with the ticket vendor while still at home, but had gotten nowhere.

Once I arrived in London, I chatted with a fellow at the O2. He told me to arrive at the box office when it opened at 5:30pm on the day of the concert and they would get it straightened out. I had a friend who had an issue with one of her tickets for an earlier concert and had gotten her situation taken care of in a similar manner. So I had planned the day to be ready for the concert and walk over to the box office at 5pm.

When I returned to my room after breakfast, I decided to try the O2 app one more time. The ticket was there. Could the problem have been that the app couldn’t handle more than one night at a time? Or maybe couldn’t deal with two different ticket vendors at the same time? At home, I often have several different tickets for different venues or different nights at the same venue on my phone without any problems. Whatever the issue had been, it was solved and I didn’t need to hang out at the box office later in the day. I took a screenshot of the ticket as backup.

I had originally planned to visit the main part of Greenwich for the day. But changed my plans when I was going to have to deal with the missing ticket. Now that my plans changed again, I chose to stay close to home. I spent some time exploring the upper level of the O2 complex, which mostly had shops, and didn’t buy a thing. This time I circled the entire complex, instead of going halfway and coming back. Then, after a light lunch, I went to the swimming pool and then sat in the thermal pool again.

This time the thermal pool was empty when I arrived. The previous day, a guy was already there. He had all of the jets shooting full blast and both waterfalls going. He was sitting under one of the waterfalls like it was his own personal shower. I hadn’t wanted to get so thoroughly pummeled (with my very fair skin, I bruise somewhat easily). Plus I didn’t want to get soaked by the waterfalls (since the water coming down on the fellow was spraying out quite far from him). So I had kept to the periphery. This time the setting for the jets was much more reasonable and the waterfalls weren’t running. So I settled in on a more centrally located seat where I was more likely to stay put and relaxed thoroughly. Others eventually joined me in the thermal pool and we had some enjoyable conversations.

After having some dinner and getting dressed up for the show, I went to the hotel bar and had a Lemon Drop Martini. Then I sauntered over to the entrance to the arena with my ticket ready to be scanned from my phone.

This time my seat was on the other side of the arena, a bit farther back from the stage and blessedly not so high up. To my left was a group of people, both male and female, all in their mid to late thirties. They were wondering what songs were and weren’t going to be played and when they might hear “Fairground”. Since I had the set list fully memorized by this time, I was able to answer their questions. They were mildly snockered and having a great time partying.

To my right was a very nice family from Belgium. The mother was about early fifties and had brought her son and daughter for them to see Simply Red live for the first time. Mom was a long-time fan who had indoctrinated her kids on the band’s music from pretty much the womb.

The seats directly in front of me were empty until after Soul II Soul finished their set. Then their occupants arrived, carrying several drinks (beer, wine, and cocktails) and already quite intoxicated. They were quite loud and rowdy and continued to be so even after Simply Red took the stage. If anyone dared to say anything to them, they responded quite belligerently, peppered with numerous expletives. I am usually very much of a live and let live kind of a person as long as no harm is being done to anyone. But my mild-mannered Belgian friend and I were whispering to one another about what we thought we could get away with doing to them without being arrested.

The guy left again and returned with four large beers in his large hands. Not too long after that, he threw up all over himself and the woman to his right. The woman he was with was to his left. Simply Red was not yet that far into their set and suddenly four people were leaving the concert. I was thankful they had been in front of me and not behind or next to me. It took a while before the cleaning crew came to take care of the mess. But it was likely that it wasn’t the only mess they had to clean up that night. The venue made it clear both nights that the drinkers were the priority to them, not the people who actually wanted to experience the show.

Because I knew the set list so well, I had planned out what to photograph and, more importantly, what to capture with video clips. Some of the action going on around me precluded some of my plans, but I still managed to get some good stuff. Since I would be front row center the following night, I didn’t want to spend all of my time looking at them through my phone when I was right there face to face.

Once again, they were incredible. Some acts I have seen live have been carried away by their own egos and sleep-walked their way through their set. This band never does that. They always go all out to put on an amazing, entertaining show. At the very beginning of the set, a video is played of Mick forty years ago saying, “I want to be a great singer. I want to be the best.” He isn’t talking about being the most famous or the richest. He truly means that he wants to sing very, very well. He worked at it really hard to make it happen.

For the encore, one of the fellas to my left had switched places with the girl who had been right next to me. At the end of the concert, he gave me a big hug and wanted to kiss me. Honestly I could have been this guy’s mama. But he was jovially three sheets to the wind and high on Simply Red’s unbelievable showmanship. He said it was the best concert he had ever seen in his life and planted one on me.

I followed the Belgian family out from the seats and we walked together for a little bit. They needed to get back to the main entrance while I was going out to the hotel from the bottom of the stairs we walked down from that level.

Back in my room, I got ready for bed and packed up to leave the hotel the next morning after breakfast. Then I posted the photos and video clips I took and called it a night.

Next time – transferring to a central London hotel and making my way through crowds of protesters to tour Parliament.

The arena filling up just before the Simply Red set

November 26, 2025

London Adventure: The First Simply Red Concert at London’s O2 Arena

For the very good buffet breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant, I had a table by the windows in the corner. It overlooked the Thames and gave me a very pleasant view of the skyscrapers in London’s Financial District across the river. I could also watch the variety of boats and ships that went by.

I couldn’t settle in too much, however, as I had scheduled a one hour, full-body Swedish massage at the hotel’s spa. I figured that, with three nights of concerts in a row, I would be glad to have had it.

Although I had assigned seats for all three, Simply Red concerts are just not the sort of shows where the audience sits quietly in their seats. Instead the audience gets up on their feet, dances, sings along during the choruses, applauds enthusiastically, and cheers throughout.

The band is unique. The styles of music include soul, jazz, blues, funk, rock, ballads, and the occasional reggae piece. They not only sound different from other bands, but their songs are different from each other too.

The band is very tight and every member of it is both versatile and quite talented on the instrument (or instruments) they play. On drums, Roman Roth; bass, Orefo Orakwue; guitar, Kenji Suzuki; keyboards, Gary Sanctuary; trumpet, flugelhorn and percussion is Kevin Robinson; saxophones, EWI, and additional keyboards is Ian Kirkham. The guitar, saxophone, trumpet, and keyboard solos are all spellbinding. The lead singer, Mick Hucknall, has an exquisitely unique singing voice, which just seems to become richer and more powerful as he ages (25 when he started and 65 now).

With the tour being for the 40^th anniversary of the release of their first album, Picture Book, it was chock full of hits and fan favorites from over the years. Mick also talked to the audience (which he usually does at least some anyway), explaining the origins of some of the songs or telling stories related to them. This added an extra depth to their nearly two hour set.

Back to the massage. It was delightful and energized me. Afterwards I went for a walk outside. It was a lovely day. I explored the area around the O2 Arena, taking photos of the hotel, arena, and the river.

One of the photos that I took of the marquee at the main entrance to the arena ended up being posted on Simply Red’s Facebook page a few days later, credited to me. That was really cool. It was accompanied by four other photos, one of which was from the third concert and showed Mick onstage. I could clearly be seen in the audience watching him. I will share that photo in a later post.

Picked up some Chinese food for lunch. Then later in the afternoon, I took my masseuse’s advice and went to sit in the large thermal pool in the hotel next to the swimming pool. My legs kept trying to float up. If I tried to lean back, my entire body would rise and I would start to float away. I decided the problem was my lack of height. Others seemed to be staying in place, but they were all taller than me. So I sat on a ledge with my legs hanging down in order to not float off. Then I had a light dinner and got ready for the show.

I had decided that, since it was such a special anniversary, I would dress up each night. For the first night, I chose a purple sequined camisole with a purple and blue sequined shrug jacket.

The entrance from the hotel was pretty much on the other side of the arena from the main entrance, which I needed to go in. The complex was full of people and they were not all going to the concert. As it was, the arena could hold 20,000 and was sold out. So loads and loads of people milling around.

My seat for the first night was close to the stage, but really high up above it. It was the best seat I could get in the scramble to get any ticket I could after my friend had died. I am not a fan of heights, but I had talked myself into being okay with it on the way. Fortunately, when I went up the steps to enter the arena itself, I didn’t need to climb any further from there or go down any steps either. I just stepped over a bit to my right and sat down. Whew!

Not long after I arrived, another woman walked up to me and asked if I was Trisha. I said I was and she introduced herself to me. That was great. A new friend. I later had several people say that they saw me — some from across the arena. It seemed that my outfit could be seen from space.

I figured I would likely stay in my seat most of the time, unless the people in front of me stood and I would need to stand in order to see the stage. Didn’t realize that the people around me would be going in and out for the entire concert to get more drinks or to run to the WC. So I ended up standing for much of the show even at that dizzying height in what I would call nosebleed territory. The drunker several of those people got, I began to pray that nobody would be so drunk as to take a header over the railing just a few rows ahead of me.

The concert itself was absolutely fantastic – both Simply Red and their supporting act, Soul II Soul (biggest hit being “Back To Life (However Do You Want Me)”) played their hearts out. Afterwards I took the elevator down instead of the never-ending succession of escalators. Then I walked back to the hotel. I ended up staying up a bit late to post the photos I had taken on three Facebook pages (my own, the one I had been helping with for the past couple years, and another dedicated to the band to which I often contribute). Exhausted, but happy, I slept well once I was under the covers of my comfy bed.

Next time – The day and night of the second of the three Simply Red concerts

November 15, 2025

London Adventure: Arrival

The British soul band, Simply Red, features quite prominently in the first days of this particular trip. So a little back history is in order.

On the 11^th of October in 1985, their first album, Picture Book, was released. This included the songs “Come to My Aid”, “Sad Old Red”, “Heaven” (the Talking Heads song), “Jericho”, “Money’s Too Tight (to Mention)”, “Holding Back the Years” (which hit #1 in the US), and the title song. The album launched the band into sudden fame – especially in the UK, Europe, and South America. Forty years later, still going strong, they embarked on an international tour. I was going to all three London concerts.

I had initially become aware of Simply Red through my local record shop. The fella from whom I purchased most of my music recommended them based upon what he knew about my musical tastes. In the summer of 1986, the band performed at the First Avenue Club. As good as I thought the album was, they were even better live.

I didn’t have the opportunity to see them again until the summer of 1992 at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. A friend of mine had rented a flat in London and invited me over for a few weeks. She had a flyer regarding the Jazz Festival which indicated that Simply Red would be playing during the time I would be in London. So we hopped on the plane to Geneva.

After a few changes in personnel, the band was even better in person than before. And their very dynamic and charismatic lead singer, Mick Hucknall, was incredible. He started off the set with a Cole Porter song sung a cappella. It was perfection. I was even more completely hooked than before.

But, after a few years, life happened and our connection was lost. Two years ago, the connection restored, I was helping with a group associated with the band and was already set to attend a couple of the upcoming 40^th anniversary shows. So, on the 7^th of October 2025, I boarded a plane and began my London adventure.

Originally I was supposed to attend the two shows at the O2 Arena with a friend who said she had arranged for us to be the guests of one of the band members. But, several months after the tickets went on sale, she suddenly died. I then found out that she had not yet made any arrangements. So I found myself scrambling to get whatever tickets I could.

In the meantime, a third London concert was announced for the OVO Arena Wembley. I signed up for the pre-sale, got up at 3:30am my time to be ready at 10am London time (4am for me) to try to get myself the Front Row Experience. Success! Front row center even! I had already planned to make it a longer trip than just the concerts and had several activities in mind for the rest of my time in London.

I had managed to snag a Delta One air ticket, so my adventure began after I checked in at the Delta One desk, dropping my larger case off there. My ticket got me into the Delta Sky lounge. My flight wasn’t leaving until 11pm, so I wouldn’t be getting the onboard dinner until after midnight or so. In the lounge, I could get a light meal to tide me over until then for free. I could also hang out in the relatively quiet lounge until nearer to the time to board. The ladies room in the lounge alone was worth it. Quite posh.

I received a glass of sparkling wine upon boarding. Then, with dinner, I selected a lovely, white, Argentinian wine to go with the crab cakes I had ordered. They were served with soup, a salad, some smoked salmon, a roll, some risotto, and green beans. I decided I could get used to this.

Shortly after dinner, I figured it was time for bed. The seat could lie down, which I felt would definitely help me to actually sleep (which I normally don’t on a flight). It was, however, rather turbulent here and there, so I would just be drifting off when I would start to bounce around a bit (although I did have my shoulder strap seat belt on).

We were served breakfast at about 10am London time and landed at about 1pm. Going through passport control is much quicker now that all I need to do is to have the passport read by the computer. But I do miss collecting the stamps in the passport.

A car and driver were picking me up and taking me to the Intercontinental O2 Hotel. I knew that it would take a couple of hours to get there, especially since we went through central London, instead of on the ring road, but it took more like two and a half hours.

After checking in and getting myself settled in the room, I headed out the back door of the hotel to the special hotel entrance for the O2 Arena complex. I wanted to get acclimated with the place and find some food as it was now approaching 5pm.

I saw a Kentucky Fried Chicken right away, but it was closed for a private function. I usually like to eat the food of the country I am in instead of American fast food. But I was hungry and was willing to take whatever I could get that looked reasonable and was open. I ended up at the Five Guys burger place. It was a lot of food and I couldn’t eat it all, but I didn’t need to eat again for the rest of the day.

Back at the room, I got everything ready for the following day, set my alarm, and went to bed at around 10pm. I had an appointment for a massage for the next morning.

Next time – The day and night of the first of the three Simply Red concerts

August 19, 2024

Viking British Isles Explorer Cruise: London

My flight left the US on the 3^rd of July, arriving on the 4^th. It was the day of the UK General Election. The only other time I had been in Britain for a General Election was back in 1997 when the Labour party won by a landslide and Tony Blair began his first term as Prime Minister. I was very interested to see how this election would turn out.

Upon arrival at London’s Heathrow airport, after customs and luggage, I was met by a representative from Viking Cruises. This was my first time with Viking. I had done a couple of river cruises before: the Nile in Egypt with Movenpick, and a Grand France river cruise with Avalon Waterways. I had also gone on one other small ocean-going ship in the Aegean (to Greek Islands and Turkey) with a French line, Louis Cristal. With those ships, there were no children, no casinos, and an emphasis on learning the history, art and culture of the places we would visit. The same applied to Viking.

The ship, Viking Neptune, was supposed to be docked at Greenwich. But when docking the day before, the winds were too high for them to do so. We took the northern M25 loop to Tilbury. I had been to London many times before and had visited Greenwich several times in the past as well. I really like Greenwich and had planned to spend my day there, wandering around and exploring. Ended up spending the day mainly on the ship, exploring that and taking photos.

My stateroom was a Deluxe Veranda on Deck Five. I was just two decks directly above the tenders/lifeboats. The World Café, which served breakfast, lunch, and dinner buffet meals opened early for lunch. I love the idea of a buffet on such trips as I can choose what I want and how much. I tend to prefer smaller amounts of a variety of dishes — usually seafood or fish with a couple of vegetables, some fruit, and possibly a salad. If I have dessert, it is usually a sorbet or a mousse of some kind. They had some delicious salmon with grilled vegetables. I had some fruit salad and some seafood salad with that. I was also served a welcome drink involving bourbon and a premium Riesling. I had signed up for the Silver Spirits package so I could have better wines and an occasional cocktail.

I could get into my stateroom at 1pm. My cases were already there waiting for me. I unpacked and got organized for both dinner (the relatively casual dress code did involve something a bit nicer than a T-shirt and jeans) and the following day. The tickets for the shore excursions for which I had signed up were there, except for the excursion to Scone Palace in Edinburgh. Not enough people had signed up for that one. They provided me with an automatic refund. I could also sign up for a different excursion right there from my room. Had a nice early dinner too and, since I didn’t sleep on the plane from the States, turned in a bit early.

I had signed up for the walking tour of Greenwich for the following day. That was the only excursion they had available for that day and it was included (free of charge). Even though I had been to Greenwich many times on previous visits, I still wanted to go on the tour. You never know. I could learn something new or see something I hadn’t seen before. Since we hadn’t been able to dock at Greenwich, I was especially glad I had signed up. We were loaded onto a clipper that would take us up the Thames and deliver us at Greenwich’s dock.

I met a couple of very nice ladies from Long Beach, California (Sherry and Christine) and ended up hanging out with them for much of this excursion and quite often for presentations and dinner on the ship.

We started with the Cutty Sark. My mom and I had toured this ship on our very first trip to London in 1983 – long before the fire in 2007 that nearly destroyed her. I visited her again in 2016. The ship was named after a witch in the Robert Burns poem “Tam o’Shanter”. The figurehead of the ship is supposed to represent the witch. The Cutty Sark was built in 1791 as one of the last of the tea clippers. Although it was one of the last, it was one of the fastest. But, when steamships took over the tea trade, the Cutty Sark was then used for the wool trade from Australia. After that, she became a training ship and was finally put in permanent dry dock in Greenwich as a museum.

From there we went to the statue of Sir Walter Raleigh in front of the Visitor Centre and then to the Old Royal Naval College. This was the site of Greenwich Palace, which was the birthplace of Henry VIII, Mary I and Elizabeth I. Then we went past the National Maritime Museum to the Queen’s House. This was built in 1616 on the grounds of Greenwich Palace and is now part of the National Maritime Museum. From there we looked up the hill at the Royal Observatory. Then came the one new thing that I had not ever seen before. Nelson’s ship in a bottle.

Throughout all of this, the heavens would periodically open up and drop some fairly heavy rain on us. A few minutes later, the rain would stop only to come gushing down again a few minutes after that. I was wearing a rain jacket with a hood that was strapped down over a baseball cap, allowing me to take my photos either by camera or phone without having to deal with an umbrella. Although I was surprised to encounter such chilly weather in July, all of my prior trips to the UK had taught me to always be prepared for the potential of rain, snow, hail or all three.

Our last stop was to take a quick photo of St Alfege Church. The church was built on the supposed spot where St Alfege was martyred in 1012. The church was built around 1290. Henry VIII was baptized there in 1491. The present church was rebuilt in 1712-1714 after the medieval church collapsed due to the number of burials both inside and out.

By the time we returned to the clipper to head back to our ship in Tilbury, the rain was coming down in torrents again. I still managed to capture a few photos of the O2 Arena and the Intercontinental O2 Hotel plus the Thames Barrier between the raindrops.

When I got back to the ship about 2:30pm, I found that I had a fairly relaxing afternoon ahead of me as the ship set sail for Dover. I also found that Kohari (the fellow who was looking after me and my stateroom) had provided me with some cans of orange Fanta in my fridge. I don’t tolerate caffeine and so don’t drink the usual sodas provided. Very nice of him.

I decided to take a shower and really dress up for dinner that night. I had a black camisole with a lightly beaded sheer top over it, plus some slinky black slacks. For dinner, I had signed up for a five-course dinner at The Chef’s Table restaurant inspired by China’s Cantonese and Hualyang cuisines with special wine pairings. The courses were as follows:

Hot & Sour Soup (Cantonese style) with Martin Codax Mara Martin (Godello) from Monerrei, Spain
Fried Prawns (crispy garlic & chili) with Vinologist (Chenin Blanc) from Swartland, South Africa
Coconut (lemongrass & ginger infused)
Wok-Fried Beef (black pepper sauce, rice in lotus leaf with Altano Organic (Tinto Roriz) from Douro Valley, Portugal
Chilled Mango Cream (pomelo and sago) with Broadbent Madeira from Madeira Island, Portugal

Was feeling just a wee bit squiffy afterwards. I usually have one or two glasses of wine with dinner, but not four. The ship was sailing and I wasn’t sure if the ship’s movement was the problem or the four glasses of wine. I decided it was both.

Next time – Hey, weren’t we supposed to dock at Dover?

February 15, 2021

Trooping the Colour 1983

The Queen of England’s actual birthday is in April. However, it is tradition to have the official celebration of the birthday of whoever the current British Monarch is in early June. This is called Trooping the Colour and is quite a spectacle.

Mom and I had determined during the days leading up to the Trooping the Colour what the best place to view it would be. We chose the steps leading from The Mall up to the Duke of York’s Column. The Duke in question was the second son of King George III who died in 1827. He had been Commander in Chief of the British Army and was so beloved by the men that they pulled together the funds to create the monument.

We found a spot at the base of the column (and at the top of that part of the steps) where we could sit down when we needed to, but could easily see over the crowds in front of us. I bought a program from a member of the Welsh Guards, in full dress uniform, who actually was Welsh. This was the first time I had heard a Welsh accent and I was enthralled. Since he wasn’t on duty, we could actually talk a little until someone else came up to get a program.

The ceremony consisted of a parade from Buckingham Palace to the Horseguards Parade consisting of representatives of all of the British and Commonwealth armies plus most of the Royal Family. In 1983, the Queen rode on horseback with Prince Phillip, Prince Charles, and the Duke of Kent just behind. The last time she rode horseback was 1986. She has taken a carriage since then (along with Prince Phillip). The Trooping the Colour tradition goes back as far as the 17th century.

At the Horseguards Parade, the Queen receives a royal salute and then inspects the troops of the Household Division. These include both the foot guards and the horse guards. After this, they all parade back to Buckingham Palace, where the entire Royal Family assembles on the balcony while Royal Air Force jets fly overhead.

I have included a couple of photos of the Trooping the Colour that I did not take, just to give an idea of it. Back in 1983 I had a camera without a zoom. So, though I took a lot of photos, it can be difficult to see what is in them without greatly enlarging them. In the one with the Queen Mother and Princess Diana in a carriage, the carriage is over to the right side and is drawn by a white horse. The Queen Mother is in blue while Diana is in grey and white.

The photo with the Queen shows her to the left of the photo riding a chestnut horse and with a white cockade in her hat. She is just in front of a white horse with the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, and the Duke of Kent right behind the white horse.

We stayed until the parade passed us heading back to Buckingham Palace. Then we headed over to Westminster Abbey to visit the Royal Tombs.

Back in 1983, the main entrance to Westminster Abbey was used unless visiting the Royal Tombs. The entrance that is now used for visitors to the entire abbey was used only for the Royal Tombs back then. When entering, we were greeted by the painting of Richard II at his coronation (at the age of nine) that was commissioned by him and painted during his lifetime. The Coronation Throne was behind the Shrine of Edward the Confessor. Today both the painting and the throne are at the front of the abbey near the Tomb of the Unknown.

It could have been that the Shrine of Edward the Confessor was only open to the public because of it being the Queen’s Official Birthday, but Mom and I were able to go up the steps and walk around among the tombs of Edward I (and Queen Eleanor of Castile), Richard II (and Queen Anne of Bohemia), Henry III, Edward III (and Queen Phillipa of Hainault), and Henry V. Edward the Confessor’s queen, Edith of Wessex, is buried somewhere near his shrine, but nobody knows for certain exactly where. The shrine was built by Henry III in 1241 directly above where the Confessor was originally interred.

All of the tombs, except Edward I, have effigies of the person or people inside lying on the top. Edward didn’t plan to stay there. His instructions had been to be taken to Scotland and be buried there once his son, Edward II, conquered the country. Junior didn’t conquer Scotland. Instead Robert the Bruce beat the tar out of him at Bannockburn and won independence from England (which lasted until James VI of Scotland became James I of England).

The shrine was closed to the public on all of my visits since then. But, at some point, it became available during special Verger tours. My most recent trip to London in 2017 included a Verger Tour of Westminster Abbey. I was able to re-experience the thrill that I felt to be able to spend time up in the shrine. In 2017, we could also kneel in the niches of the shrine for prayer, if we chose to do so. The niches were quite worn from the knees of 800 years of people kneeling there.

Originally Mom and I had planned to take a boat to Hampton Court Palace from Westminster Pier. But since we were behind in our schedule by a couple of hours, we found we missed the last boat to Hampton Court. We decided to take the boat to Greenwich instead.

At Greenwich, we visited the Queen’s House. It was designed by Inigo Jones for Anne of Denmark, who was the queen of James I. Anne died before it was completed, so it ended up as the property of Henrietta Marie, queen of James’ son, Charles I. It was used just a short time before the English Civil War and Charles’ execution.

When the Tudor palace that used to be at the edge of the water was demolished and the Royal Seaman’s Hospital built (by Sir Christopher Wren), the new building was in two parts to keep from spoiling the vista from the Queen’s House to the Thames. This is now the Old Royal Naval College. The Queen’s House itself contains mostly period rooms, while the wings contain a Royal Museum and parts of the Maritime Museum (at least that was what was there in 1983). It was a special treat to be able to see Admiral Horatio Nelson’s uniform.

We could see the Royal Observatory from the Queen’s House, but didn’t quite have time to do everything. So we decided to see the Cutty Sark instead. I finally visited the Observatory in 2016.

1983 was several years before the 2007 fired that severely damaged the ship. So it was quite intact from when it had been built in 1869. It was very exciting to be able to climb around on the ship. At that point (since London in 1983 was really my first trip anywhere) I had never been on an old sailing ship before. I love old ships and had a couple of ancestors who were ship captains, so it was very special to me.

Next time – our last full day in London before heading out for a couple of day trips.

Trooping the Colour at Horseguards Parade

July 5, 2020

Train from Edinburgh to London & Boat Ride to Greenwich

The Virgin Trains East Coast train from Edinburgh’s Waverly Station to London’s Kings Cross Station was leaving at 10:00am. After having breakfast and checking out of the hotel, I asked the Doorman on duty about the best way to get from the hotel to the train station. Although it was next door, there was a shopping mall in between. Should I go through the mall? Should I go past the mall and around the corner? He started telling me the way to get there (neither of those two) and then decided he would just take me there himself.

He told the other Doorman on duty inside, took hold of my bags, and escorted me to just past the mall entrance next to the hotel to some steps to the roof of the mall. That was a surprise. When we got to the end of the mall roof near the station, there was an elevator. This took us down into the train station. My new friend (he was actually from Romania – a combination Romanian and Scottish accent is quite delightful) led us to the Departures board, found the train I would be riding, and then took me and my bags to another elevator.

That elevator took us to where the trains themselves were waiting. He continued to escort me all the way to the train. There he made sure I got my larger bag checked. I was traveling First Class (I had gotten a great deal there too). In Standard you keep your bags and try to find a place to put them, which may or may not be near you. Once the bag was checked, he turned me over to the First Class Conductor. Needless to say, I gave the Doorman a good tip.

I had booked a single seat that was at a table. I placed my coat in the rack above me, the small bag on the floor under the table, and settled in. The trip took four hours, stopping at various towns and cities along the way. Lunch was served, so I wasn’t hungry when I arrived at my destination.

Once in London, I checked into my hotel. It was a hotel I used to stay in with Mom on many trips. But it had recently undergone a total refurbishment, gained another star, and decided that their focus would be on the business traveler. I realized on this trip that it was no longer the hotel for me.

The next morning after I arrived, I walked down The Strand to take the boat from Westminster Pier to Greenwich. En route I took a photo of the Admiralty Arch with the UK flags lining The Mall beyond the arch. As I reached Westminster Pier, I took a photo of the statue of Boudica.

Boudica was queen of the Iceni tribe of Celtic Briton who led a revolt against the Romans in about 61 AD. Her husband, the king had died, leaving his kingdom split between his two daughters and the Roman Empire. His will was ignored. His daughters were raped. His widow publicly flogged.

Boudica raised an army and went after the Romans in three cities – Verulamium (now St Albans), Camulodunum (now Colchester), and Londinium (now London). It is said that roughly 70,000 to 80,000 Romans and British were killed. All three cities were burned. London was where the Ninth Legion met Boudica’s troops and lost. But, there were way more Romans and they ultimately defeated the Britons.

Once on the boat, I took a photo of the London Eye before going inside. It was starting to look like it was going to rain. All along the boat ride down the Thames to Greenwich, I took as many photos as I could on the side of the boat where I sat. Humorous commentary was given onboard as various landmarks on either side of the boat were pointed out. I planned to sit on the other side on the way back.

As we glided beneath the Tower Bridge, I shot several photos as that bridge is a favorite of mine. I have included a photo with the modern building The Shard framed between the towers of the bridge.

Beyond both the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge and on the same side of the Thames as the Tower of London was the Prospect of Whitby. This was the oldest pub on the river, dating to about 1520. The current building is not original as it had a fire and was rebuilt in the early 19^th century. The only part that is original is the stone floor.

A little further along, in the area known as Limehouse, is the Grapes, where Charles Dickens lived for a time in about 1820. The building dates from the 1720s. Another pub dating from 1583 was on the same site before it. The pub is currently owned by a trio of people including actor Ian McKellen. He lives a little further along the river near Canary Wharf.

When we reached Greenwich Pier, I immediately headed for the Royal Observatory. Mom and I had been to Greenwich on our first visit to London back in 1983, but had not made it up to the Observatory. We had spent most of our time there at the Queen’s House (built 1616-1635), which houses part of the National Maritime Museum.

The climb to the Observatory is a steep one and I knew it would take time. I often will explore whatever is the farthest or the most difficult to get to first when I am operating on my own agenda instead of someone else’s. There was a less steep, but longer walk that sort of wound around the hill. I decided to take that route up and the super steep route down.

The Royal Observatory was commissioned in 1675 by King Charles II and built by Sir Christopher Wren (the same guy who built St Paul’s Cathedral). The Royal Observatory is home to Greenwich Mean Time (from which all time around the world originates) and the Prime Meridian (zero meridian from which will all distances around the world are measured).

People like to get the cheesy photo with one foot on each side of the meridian line. I took an equally cheesy photo of my feet straddling the line – one in the eastern hemisphere and one in the western.

Once I had explored the building and the exhibits inside, took my feet photo, and spent as much time as I wanted up there, I headed back down, walking through the park that surrounds the space, and found a pub in which to have lunch. The Greenwich Tavern had the usual traditional pub fare, such as fish and chips, which was what I ordered, plus a half pint of cider.

Next came the Royal Naval College, created in the 19^th century in a building built in the 17^th century by Sir Christopher Wren as Greenwich Hospital, a home for retired sailors.

There are several connections between Greenwich and Admiral Horatio Nelson. He lied in state in the Painted Hall at what became the Royal Naval College before his funeral at St Paul’s Cathedral. Several items belonging to him, including the uniform he was wearing at the Battle of Trafalgar, are housed in the National Maritime Museum in the Queen’s House.

The Chapel in the Royal Naval College has, near the entrance, a memorial to Thomas Hardy, Captain of the HMS Victory during the Battle of Trafalgar (not the novelist). He was also a close friend of Nelson’s, and was with him when he died on the Victory after being shot by a French Sharpshooter. Hardy was a Governor of Greenwich Hospital near the end of his career.

The Cutty Sark was built in Scotland in 1869 as a tea clipper to China. It was later involved in the wool trade to Australia. The whiskey was named after the ship, which went into dry dock at Greenwich in 1954. Mom and I had toured the ship back in 1983. It suffered a pretty nasty fire in 2007 and was restored in 2012.

The name Cutty Sark comes from the nickname of the witch who chased Tam O’Shanter in Robert Burn’s 1791 poem. The ship was an extremely fast one back in its day. The restoration allows for visitors to seen beneath the ship as well and inside and on deck. I love ships, especially old ones, and I enjoyed getting to explore this one a second time.

On the way back to Westminster Pier, the rain came down really hard, making it impossible for me to take any photos beyond shortly after leaving Greenwich. My last photo shared here is of the Mayflower Pub in Rotherhithe.

In July of 1620, the Mayflower sailed from Rotherhithe to pick up more passengers in Southhampton and Plymouth, England, before sailing to what became Plymouth, Massachusetts. The Mayflower Pub claims to be at the site in Rotherhithe from which the Mayflower sailed. Whether or not that is true is up to discussion.

Back at Westminster Pier, the rain had stopped. As I walked up Whitehall towards The Strand, I took a photo near Banqueting House. Right after that, I saw that a ceremony was taking place at Horseguards Parade and crossed over to that side of the street to take a look. A photo is included here.

My last shot before heading up The Strand to my hotel was of Trafalgar Square, with the statue of Admiral Nelson on top of Nelson’s Column. The statue in front of the column is of King Charles I. The building seen behind the column with a dome is the National Gallery.

Next time – a day at Windsor Castle & Hampton Court Palace