Greenwich The station where we got off was named after the first sight we saw: Cutty Sark. The tea clipper was originally used for the fast transport of tea from India to England, until it became uneconomical due to the faster steamships and the Suez Canal.
Cutty Sark A few steps further is the Old Royal Naval College, which today houses parts of the University of Greenwich.
Royal Naval College After a tour of the university grounds, we visited the “Queen’s House,” which once served as a royal pleasure palace.
View of the Queen's House Today, it mainly features paintings that are open to the public.
Queen's House After a small incline, we then reached the Royal Observatory.
View from the Royal Observatory It is London’s only planetarium, known mainly for the prime meridian and Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
Prime Meridian At 1 PM, we watched the daily drop of the “Time Ball,” which used to indicate the exact time to ships. Time Ball
Only with precise clocks set to the time at home was accurate and thus safe navigation on the world’s oceans possible.
View from the Royal Observatory Inside the observatory, an exhibition informed about the development of measuring instruments for determining longitude and the lives of royal astronomers.
Telescope at the Royal Observatory From Greenwich, we took the boat back to the center.
Canary Wharf
We passed many famous sights along the Thames, until we finally arrived at the House of Parliament.
Tower Bridge
We pushed through the crowds standing on the street to photograph the clock tower of Big Ben, in order to arrive in time before the closing time at the Jewel Tower.
Elizabeth Tower with Big Ben
The Jewel Tower was part of the original palace and was built around 1365 to house King Edward III's treasures.
Jewel Tower
It is one of the two buildings of the medieval Palace of Westminster that survived the fire of 1834. The exhibition inside was modern but brief, and we were also disappointed by the lack of a beautiful view of the Houses of Parliament because one could not climb all the way to the top.
Houses of Parliament
Afterwards, we walked along the Thames, past the London Eye.
London Eye
After dinner near Covent Garden, we arrived at Leicester Square.
Covent Garden
Here, statues of various film characters are gathered, inviting for photographs.
Leicester Square
Not far from there was the musical we were watching that evening: “The Book of Mormon,” a satirical depiction of the first missionary efforts of two young Mormons.