More on Greenwich

Greenwich is the location of the Prime Meridian of the world - 0 0' 0" and Greenwich Mean Time. The National Maritime Museum, a World Heritage site, is also located here, and was founded with the purpose of demonstrating britain's history as a naval power. It's actually comprised of three museums within walking distance of each other: the Maritime Galleries, the Queen's House, and the Royal Observatory. As luck would have it, it is located only a couple of blocks away from the hostel I'm staying at!
I only visited the first two, as there is only so much maritime history a girl can handle in one day. The Maritime Gallery, from which most of the pictures below were taken, had galleries focusing on naval expeditions to the New world from Europe to China, as well as the race to reach the North and South Poles, the beginnings of slave trade up to the abolition of slavery, ship building techniques from the Vikings to modern day, to name a few. Loads of beautiful, incredibly detailed models that were used by master ship builders, and even a small gallery featuring the history of toy ships, that were actually used to teach young boys how to become sailors. A surprising exhibit was one commemorating the explorer's Ernest Shackleton dramatic Antarctic expedition in 1914 that resulted in the loss of his ship Endurance, and struggle to survive on floating ice for a year before he left on a small boat to find help. 3 months later, not only did he succeed, but amazingly, none of his men died, which made him a hero. I had bought a bargain book at Borders a couple of years ago just for the ship reference (there were detailed photographs of the entire expedition), but eventually ended up reading the story because it was so compelling. To actually walk up to an exact replica of the tiny boat Shackleton sailed those final 650 miles, soaked in freezing cold water for most of the time, was incredible! Unfortunately, it was in one of the galleries that did not allow photographs to be taken.












































































































































The Queen's House, built over an old Tudor palace in 1616, is filled with beautiful portraits of famous British Naval officers and royalty from the last four centuries. There are also romanticized depictions epic sea battles and expeditions to the New World. The collection is a testament to the legacy of britain's seapower. These are pics of the grounds as no cameras were allowed inside.
Looking out from the front of the building:























Looking out to the Royal Observatory











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Location:London,United Kingdom