Greenwich

I woke up bright and early this morning.  Well, only if you consider 8:45 bright and early.  Our program director and assistant director made us breakfast of bacon butties.  It was basically buttered bread with bacon on it.  Have I ever mentioned that bacon in the UK is way different from bacon in the states?  The bacon here is more like ham.  I believe it's from the same part of the pig, just cut thicker.  It was a really good breakfast.  I had two helpings.

At 10:30 we set off on our ferry ride down the Thames river towards Greenwich.  Bitter cold wind whipped around us, and I forgot my gloves back in my room.  I tried to stay outside as long as possible to take awesome pictures but my hands weren't having it.

The ferry arrived around 11:15 and we set off for the Royal Observatory in Greenwich Park.  It was on the top of the a pretty tall hill, but the view from the top was amazing!  You could see all the way across London.  At the Royal Observatory there was the prime meridian lies.  I got some cheesy pictures of me there.

Abbey, Jessica and myself posing over the Prime Meridian.

It looks like I'm petting the Queen's house.  The Maritime Museum is on the left and the Naval College on the right if I remember correctly.

Also in Greenwich is the Maritime Museum, the Royal Naval College, and an old Queen's House.  Abbey, Jessica and myself palled around and we stayed the longest in Greenwich.  As we were making our way back we stopped in a few shops.  I bought myself souvenir shot glasses and a gift for my brother.  We also found the Greenwich Market which had food vendors and craftsmen alike sharing the same small space.  It was very unique to walk through.  A shop along the Market is called Mr. Humbug's Sweet Shop.  The man inside was anything but a humbug.  He was sweet and very busily working around the shop to fill candies.  When he heard us speak he was surprised to hear an American accent.  He said we looked so British.  "Americans have the best street wear," he said.  That made it almost sad to hear that we looked british even though I've been striving to blend in this whole time.  I bought some Chocolate covered peanuts even after I got all my chocolate from my parents the other day.  I couldn't help it.  He was so nice, and I love chocolate covered peanuts.  To end our trip we took the pedestrian subway under the Thames.  So officially I have been at the highest and lowest points in London.  Impressive right?!

National Maritime Museum.

Greenwich, although still a part of London, is quite separate in culture.  Our director, Mark, said that is was more like a country town than the outskirts of a big city, and I agree with that.  The buildings were styled in an older fashion, and the parks made up more of the area.  The people were very friendly from what I could tell, except for one older lady.  It had more of a community feel than central London.

Tomorrow Bailey and I are going to Stonehenge and Bath, so to prepare we are watching Pride and Prejudice.

Pip Pip Cheerio!