Recently I've been spending a lot my time and visits along the River Thames. The Thames is the river that cuts through London and eventually funnels out into the English Channel. Surrounded by the Thames are of course, Tower Bridge, the London Bridge, Big Ben, The Eye, The Globe Theatre, Greenwich Village, Windsor and Hampton Court, Parliament, huge sky-rise buildings, beautiful homes, penthouses, restaurants, and much more. Before the new mixed with the old, the river was a central hub of commerce and work. Now, it's much more contemporary and a posh place to live; however, many of England's premier attractions line the river, in which I had the delight to experience last week.
For my first tour, we took a 45 minute ferry down the coast to Greenwich. Luckily, the weather was beautiful. Nothing beats 75 degrees in London, riding along the coast overlooking London's beautiful city sky line. Greenwich began as a site of a Royal palace and later turned into the Royal Naval Hospital for Sailors but now most of the older buildings are used for the University of Greenwich. Even more fascinating, Greenwich is best known for the Greenwich Meridian, also known as the Prime Meridian where 0 degrees longitude is positioned. Therefore, I got to straddle the middle of the earth, hence the Eastern and Western hemispheres. It's pretty cool to say I've been in both hemispheres at once! Greenwich also is known for Greenwich Mean Time, which is one of our time zones. A lot of history derived from this small marine town and it was thrilling to experience this.
Continuing down the river, I had another stop at The Globe theatre this week. If you do not know, The Globe is the mecca of where Shakespeare's plays were originally performed. It's an outdoor venue, rich with character and intimacy, since the theatre only holds about 600 people. Sadly the original was burnt in the 1600's but in 1997 was rebuilt as an exact replica. We were able to watch one of Shakespeare's plays, "As You Like It." There aren't many seats, so we experienced what the peasants might have done and stood for 3 hours. Though, we were right in front of the stage and really got to interact with the actors. The atmosphere of Shakespeare's play in the middle of his theatre was a great opportunity and one I'll never forget!
The last stop along the river this week was Windsor and Hampton Court, two of England's greatest castles/palaces. Windsor is home to the Queen, in which she continues to visit and stays in all the time! I found that extremely fascinating. The castle is beautiful! All the rooms were delicately ornate with gold details, elaborate ceilings, beautiful drapes, art, and decor. I got to see the Queen's china, which she still uses every time she comes or has an event. Let me also add that the china I loved the most happens to be the Queens' favorite. What can I say, we both have good taste! Hampton Court served as a royal palace and was a favorite of King Henry VIII. The inside was not as beautiful as the Queen's royal palace, but the darker woods and character I guess fit the style of a king. Also the gardens were magnificent! They were perfect and no I'm not over-exaggerating. The shrubs were all the same shape and the flowers formed perfect patterns. They kind of reminded me of the Queen's gardens from Alice and Wonderland. Also included in the gardens was a maze! About 7 foot shrubs form this huge maze that took all together about 15-20min. to locate the center. It was quite funny when some of us were completely lost, but could hear our friends laughing in the center.
Well my week down the Thames and experiencing all it's history was quite delightful. And to top the end of my week, I got to experience a beautiful firework show over the river on my 21st birthday! Nothing beats that!
Cheers from London
xoxo
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