Did you know that Uber has a fleet of water taxis that motor up and down the Thames. Sara and I walked down to the Embankment and caught this Uber water taxi to Greenwich.
After we disembarked from the water taxi our first stop was the Cutty Sark. If you have ever purchased a bottle of Cutty Sark whiskey you have probably noticed a drawing of this ship on the label. The Cutty Sark was a clipper ship build for the tea trade between China and London.
The Cutty Sark was built to be fast but also large enough to carry a substantial cargo. It set records for the fastest voyage by a sailing ship between between China and London. After a few years steam ships started to take over the China trade and the Cutty Sark began a new career in the wool trade between Australia and London
The crew was away from home for the six months it took to sail from London to China, purchase a load of tea, load it and sail back to London. They endured dangerous working conditions, disgusting food and cramped living quarters for next to nothing in pay at the end of the voyage. When the Cutty Sark was in the wool trade most of the crew deserted when the ship got to Australia to avoid the voyage back to London.
In the 1950s the Cutty Sark was severely damaged by a storm off the coast of Portugal. A wealthy sea captain purchased her, moved her to Greenwich and restored her to her former glory. She is now a museum.
After we finished our tour of the Cutty Sark we walked around the Royal Naval College. On the grounds of the Royal Naval College there was another Christopher Wren church.
After our tour of the Royal Naval College we had lunch. Greenwich is a college town and every college town is chock a block with pizza joints. We found a pizza joint with a wood fired pizza oven and ordered a couple of pizzas
After lunch we walked up to the Royal Observatory at Greenwich.
The Royal Observatory is famous for two discoveries. The first discovery was the prime meridian. The equator is basically a line that runs around the middle of the earth, dividing the earth into two halves, north and south. The prime meridian is a line circumnavigating the earth from the North Pole to the South Pole that divides the earth into two halves, east and west. The prime meridian runs through the grounds of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich. Latitude is established by reference to the Equator and longitude is established by reference to the Prime Meridian.
In order to establish longitude when you are on a long sea voyage you need an accurate clock. John Harrison spent almost forty years, from the mid 1720s to 1761, trying to build a precisely accurate clock that could withstand the rigors of a long sea voyage. The clock he finally built in 1761 was rugged and very accurate and allowed mariners to chart their positions accurately.
After we finished touring the Royal Observatory we took the Uber boat back to London.
For dinner tonight we went to a fish place.
After dinner we took in another show.
That’s it for today. I hope you are having a great day wherever you are.
AbeAndMarkontheCamino 