Royal Naval College – A Traveling Fool

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?

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

Tag: Royal Naval College

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