Greenwich
[2007.07.01] I planned to go to Greenwich on Sunday because it is a little far away. I want to visit the invisible line that divides east and west on earth.
In the morning, I stopped by Buckingham Palace to see changing guards at 10:00am. I did see a small group of horse guards running by, but I did not get to see the real changing guards, as a policeman told me that the changing will happen at 11:30am. I decided to move on, after I filmed a short pieces of the several guards playing comic style switching position.
Buckingham Palace is at the corner of St. James park, and the other side of park located all British government buildings, including Cabinet War Room and Downing Street. It was a pleasant walk in the beautiful park along the lake side - I will post some pictures later.
As I walked along Horse Guards road toward Trafalger Square, I suddenly saw huge crowds - today is the annual London 10K run event. Ten of thousands of people were running from the Big Ben area towards Trafalger, and completed the run on Whitehall street. There were foot guards and horse guards in knight dress, carrying a sword, posing for people to take photo. Of course, there were real security outside the Downing St.
As I passed by the Big Ben, it rang for 12:00 o’clock. I went to quickly to Westminster pier to catch the 12:30pm ferry to Greenwich. The boat ride on river Thames was exciting, as you can see those landmark structures passing by, such as London Eye, London Tower and Tower bridge. And it was fun that the rain started but people could not hold their umbrella because the wind of running boat. As we were approaching Greenwich, it was a surprise to see a modern financial center in Canary Wharf. You can recognize Greenwich by the old Royal Naval College building, as it welcomes you to visit its glorious history.
On the top of mountain behind the old Royal Naval college sits the Royal Observatory of Greenwich. Here hosts two important things: the center of space and time for planet Earth. A clock and a digital display on a wall are showing the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT); and a shining steel structure shows the prime Meridian, the 0.0′0′’ longitude of Earth. I stood there with one foot on east and another foot on west - I have a picture to prove it! Inside the Observatory, you can things about the history of time definition and space exploration - things you would see in other observatory.
On the way back, I want to pass through the complex of several magnificant buildings. The old Royal Naval college has buildings in grand scale with huge column of posts. The buildings are in a symertrical arrangement, with a court in the middle. Behind the college resided the Queen’s House, where the Queens and Kings of Tudor time lived here. Now the Queen’s house is pretty much empty, with lots of portraits of Royal family on the wall, as well as lots of lots of paintings about the glorious past of Royal Naval army.
After being a guest in Queen’s house, I wandered into one of the tower building of Royal Naval college. It is a Chapel, with paintings on the roof and everywhere. I sat there, felt relaxing after a day’s of travel and found inner peace looking the heavenly surrounding.
The other tower is Painted Hall. It has more grand paintings on the huge roof and walls. I don’t know the significance of the paintings, mostly naked goddess and angels flying around. But I did not feel the type of tranquility I felt in the Chapel.