Greenwich

Greenwich is well known for the Royal observatory, built on top of a hill, exactly on the Meridian line. The time of clocks all around the world are based on the time at Greenwich, which is also known as Greenwich Mean Time or GMT. At the Observatory you will also find the official measurements for the English metric system.

The Observatory itself is not in use anymore. The light pollution from London made observations impossible. However, the observatory is now a museum and is open for the general public. You can walk around it, stand on the Meridian line (or stand with one foot on the western and the other on the eastern half of the world :+) ) and admire beautiful views of North London. Of course you can walk around in the park surrounding the Observatory and, because no cars are allowed in the park, escape from the noisy and busy London City.

Close to the Observatory the Millennium Dome is being built. As mentioned before, Greenwich is the centre of the world concerning time measurement. Therefore, it is logical that the Millennium Dome is built   on (or at least close to) the Meridian line in London.

In the area you will also find Cutty Sark, the Queen’s House and the Maritime Museum. I have not been able to visit these yet but as soon as I have, you will find the information about these attractions on one of these pages.

Next to that, you will find several restaurants in the area. I can recommend the Chinese noodle house Tai Won Mein (in Greenwich Church Street). This restaurant is really busy and you have to sit at wooden tables on wooden benches that are not really comfortable. However, it is one of the few places where you can eat for less then 5 pounds per person while the food is extremely good. You can also learn how to eat with chopsticks, which is an art in itself. :+)

See the website of the Greenwich Observatory and Greenwich 2000 for more information.