Holborn Station – Kingsway area of London. En route back to Los Angeles, I went with Nikki back to England. She was taking care of her sister for an unknown period of time.
Clean and efficient, the “Underground” makes getting around London Town pretty easy
Typical “Tube” signage in the London Underground.
I took a 2 hour train ride from London to Norwich Station on the North Sea east coast of England.
Nikki took me to the “pub” where I enjoyed my first “whiskey mac”
When one speaks of history, read this sign. 1500 years!
Officially founded in 1249! The door ways were very low…..:-)
Norwich Cathedral
Interior Norwich Cathedral
Cromer Parish Church
Cromer Pier, Norfolk
Breakfast at Byfords….The ladies knitting circle
Cambridge University
Church in Cambridge
Hey, it’s winter and I’m not equipped for the cold after 5 years in the tropics
Entrance to King’s College, Cambridge
King’s College, Cambridge
King’s College
Colleges of Cambridge with Henry VIII
Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
The lanes of Cambridge
Liverpool Street Station
At the Tower of London
No photos allowed……But we did get to see the Queens crowns and diamonds
Tower Bridge
Sentry Guards at the Tower of London
London “Eye”. Our luck, it was closed for it’s annual 2 weeks of maintenance for the year. Next time!…
Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament
We went to the London Boat Show
Admiral Nelson history at the grounds of the Royal Greenwich Obseratory
Nelson’ Ship in a Bottle
This is the actual uniform that Nelson wore when he was killed at the Battle of Trafalgar, off the coast of Spain. October 21st, 1805
View of Queen’s House & Canary Wharf from Greenwich Park.
Entrance to the Royal Greenwich Observatory. Note the official measures which the Brits no longer use….but we do….:-)
Gift Shop and entrance
Dobsonian telescope
This is where the hemispheres officially begin
Nikki and I are standing with one foot each in both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres
This is the companion shot to when Anja, Sandrine and I stood on the Anti Meridian in Taveuni Fiji in 2011.
The official signage
Nikki with the Prime Meridian marker
Edmond Halley of the Comet fame and second Astronomer Royale. His tombstone was moved here in the 1854.
Greenwich Meridian Telescope
The telescope which is perfectly aligned on the Prime Meridianl
Dropping of the 1pm ball. This is done daily to alert all in sight as to the exact local time
A roll call of the all the Astronomer Royale’s of the Greenwich Observatory
John Harrison’s clocks. This is number 1 in a series of 4. He was the first person to make accurate chronometers which forever allowed for accurate navigation around the world
Captain Cook took one of Harrison’s clock aboard a journey to the South Pacific to test it’s long term reliability at sea. This is #2
John Harrison’s Longitude time piece, #3
Harrison’s Chronometer – #4 and the watch that truly revolutionized the world of maritime navigation. Until the advent of GPS in the 1980’s, watches like this were used world wide including the major Navy’s of the world
Prime Meridian is a big tourist attraction
Cutty Sark
Rig of the Cutty Sark
Classic “block and tackle” rigging on an old sailing ship
Wheel of the Cutty Sark
Chilly, but lots of fun
The vessel is enclosed as a museum and restaurant below the level of the waterline.
Example’s of ship’s figureheads; used on old sailing ships for luck
Hull (enclosed) of the Cutty Sark
Nikki where she likes to be best….”Give her a tall ship and a star to steer her by”
We wouldn’t see each other till late February….I’ll miss her.