9/20/2025 I'm feeling better today. Breakfast was at the apartment. Scrambled eggs, toast, orange juice, and coffee. We decided to take the tube to Westminster Pier. Earl's Court Station. District line. Short walk from our apartment and costs less than Uber! We took the District line to Westminster. Easy. Tap in, tap out.
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Thames River. Westminster Pier. We arrived around 11:30 am. City Cruises had been recommended by some on the Trip Advisor forum. However, it appears there's some sort of event going on and the lady told me that she can't sell me tickets to go to Greenwich until she gets an ok call from the Greenwich Pier. What? No idea what time we can go? There's another booth right next to this one. Thames River Sightseeing. I'm told I can buy round trip tickets for the 12:30 pm departure. Hopefully the event will be over and the Greenwich Pier will be open to boats coming from Westminster. Plus this company had a senior rate so I saved $$. Bought 2 senior round trip tickets. Cost 31.20£/$42.32 We also got informative guides as to what to see along the way from Westminster to Greenwich. very helpful. Around 12:20 pm we start lining up to get on the boat. There are 2 levels to the boat. Inside and open on the top level. We decided to sit on the top level for better views. Not only did we have our little guide pamphlet that told us the sights we'd see but there was a guy on the upper level who provided commentary. It was a great experience.
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| The guy standing was giving commentary on the sights we passed |
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Greenwich. We arrived around 1:30 pm. Lots of people here. We're unsure where everything is that we want to see. We pass by the Cutty Sark. This ship was launched in 1869 for the China tea trade and now is one of the last great tea clippers. In 1954 it was towed to Greenwich where it was fully restored and opened to the public. It was damaged during a fire in 2007 but restored once more and reopened to the public in 2012. Old Royal Naval College. The Chapel and Dining Hall/Painted Hall are the only parts open to the public. The painted ceiling of the Hall is known to be one of the most magnificent in Europe. Original plan was to visit this after the Royal Observatory but unfortunately we had run out of time and needed to catch the last boat returning to Westminster. We never got the chance to fully visit the Old Royal Naval College. National Maritime Museum. Seafaring history of Britain displayed. Didn't get to fully visit this either. Queen's House. Classical style. Didn't visit this either! Royal Observatory & Prime Meridian. The Prime Meridian of Longitude 0˚ was fixed here in 1884 and it is possible to stand astride this line with one foot in both the Western and Eastern hemispheres at the same time. On top is the time ball which drops exactly at 1:00 pm each day. This provided the first public time signal in 1833 and Greenwich Mean Time is still used as a time reference throughout the world. We started walking from Greenwich Pier with the objective to see the Royal Observatory first. We walked and walked. Then as we got closer I saw that it was situated way uphill. We knew that would be difficult for us to walk so we turned around and went back to the pier area. Then I got the idea of taking a taxi to the Royal Observatory. However Richard was not into coming with me. He just wanted to sit and rest so I sought out a taxi and went alone. Taxi cost? Royal Observatory admission cost 24.00£/$32.55 By now it's 3:20 pm so not much time left if we want to catch that last boat back to Westminster. Lots of people in line waiting to stand on the prime meridian. Lots of posing. Some went all out posing jumping, bending, etc. I had someone take a picture of me. At first I just stood but then he told me to hold my arms out-do something. I knew I was too old to do any jumping or bending! Then I was able to just soak in the amazing views. Good signage explained the buildings I was seeing. In the gift shop I bought a T shirt and postcards. Cost 28.50£/$38.66 I was ready to go back but no way would I walk so a taxi was called to pick me up. I was waiting by the General Wolfe statue. Taxi back cost?
Looking back the smart thing to do would have been to get a taxi to the Royal Observatory as soon as we arrived in Greenwich. Then Richard would have experienced the Prime Meridian with me. We would have been able to visit more fully some of the other attractions of Greenwich. I just never realized how big an area this was. Also the delay in getting to Greenwich cost us an hour. As it was we ended up with only 3 hours to explore Greenwich and you need much more time than that. Live and learn!
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| Cutty Sark |
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| Old Royal Naval College |
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| National Maritime Museum |
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| Queen's House |
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| Royal Observatory & Prime Meridian |
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Royal Observatory-can see the time ball which drops exactly at 1:00 pm each day.
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| Postcard-Royal Observatory |
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Postcards
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T shirt I bought
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| I'm standing in both hemispheres! |
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| Postcard |
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| General Wolfe statue |
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| Postcard |
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Taxi back to the Greenwich Pier area
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I find Richard sitting and resting where I left him. We're in time for the 4:30 pm departure to get back to Westminster Pier. On the way back we sat on the upper level again. This time there was no commentary about the sights along the Thames that we saw. The weather had been iffy all day but as we were getting closer to Westminster Pier it started to rain so many, including us, left the upper level to go down and sit inside.
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| Me enjoying the views |
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| Richard |
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When we arrived back to Westminster Pier we took the tube. However I made a mistake. Instead of getting on the District Line we got on the Circle Line. The Circle Line that we were on would not go to Earl's Court. So we exited the tube at High Street Kensington in order to board a District Line tube going to Earl's Court Station. Then it was a short walk back to the apartment. Using our credit cards to tap in, tap out for the tube today cost 5.60£/$7.60 for each of us. Lots cheaper than an Uber!
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Pizza Union. The name says it all. Chose this place for pizza! Uber to the restaurant. Cost 23.34£/$31.66 This pizza better be good as it's expensive to get here and return. Large casual place but very busy. But there are a few empty tables so we grabbed one. Table is right by the window so we have a view to the street.On the table is a menu. Also napkins and spices, etc. I went to the counter where you place your order, pay and are given a pager that will buzz/light up when your order is ready for you to pick up. I ordered the margherita pizza extra crispy and 2 lemonade drinks. Got the drinks out of the cooler by the counter. Cost 9.75£/$13.22 Can't believe how inexpensive this is. Within a few minutes our order was ready! And our pizza was delicious. Thin crust all the way and perfect balance of cheese and sauce. Yummy! Wish this place was closer to us. Uber back to the apartment. Cost 22.20£/$30.11 Over $60.00 just to get here and return and our dinner was a fraction of that amount. But that pizza was great.
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| Uber to the restaurant |
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Lemonade
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| This empty table by the window on the left is where we sat |
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| Uber back to the apartment |
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| Our driver said this is a shopping center/mall |
Our day had its ups and downs. Would rate the day as 5 out of 10. Negatives were having to wait around to get to Greenwich from Westminster Pier and not realizing that we should have gotten a taxi as soon as we arrived to take us to the Royal Observatory. Then Richard would have come with me and we wouldn't have done so much needless and tiring walking. So frustrated. Positive was the delicious pizza we had for dinner! Later I made myself a hot chocolate and ate some of the cookies left for us by the apartment managers. For some reason my pedometer app on my phone didn't register how much I walked today. But I'm sure it was more than a mile.
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| Evening snack |
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