I was really excited about our day today because we were going to Greenwich where we could see the Cutty Sark.
First, we had to get there with a few different trains. On the way we saw a few bits of London that we hadn’t seen before. We changed transport 3 times to get to Greenwich. This took a while and dad slept for a bit.
Once the train had stopped with an ear-splitting screech, we hurried on to the platform. We rushed to the exit positively itching to get outside after the stuffy train. As soon as we exited the Cutty Sark filled the skyline. I was awed. But Mum said that we should go for a walk to the Greenwich market first. There were heaps of food stalls at the market. Mum said that she was a bit hungry and said that we could get something to eat too. Mum got an arancini ball, Amelia got a cinnamon brioche bun and I got a sausage and chicken empanada. All were yum and were gone in an instant.
We came to a stall selling aircraft photos and prints. We saw photos of the Red Arrows (The British aerobatic display team), Hawker Hurricane, Lancaster, Spitfire, Jaguar, Tornado and many others.
We did not buy anything because we had decided to leave the market and head for the Cutty Sark. While Mum and Dad bought tickets, Amelia and I looked at the merchandise store.
Once Mum and Dad had the tickets, we went through the gate and entered the lower hold of the ship. We learnt so much about the ship. Something we learnt was that the ship was the fastest ship of its time. It was a clipper. It imported tea from China to England for many years, but when steamboats came around the Cutty Sark changed to importing wool from guess were? … Australia!
On the next floor of the ship there was lots of interactive activities which included a game where you had to steer the ship from Australia to London without crashing and navigating to avoid the doldrums and use the wind direction.
We then went to the top deck where crew quarters were. There were no crew quarters below because all of that space was used for cargo. There were no sails, but the masts were still really cool. No sails were needed because the ship is not in the water, instead it is on gigantic stands. After taking some photos of the wheel and mum and dad having their Titanic moment, we left for lunch at a local brewery.
While we waited for our lunch, we met a really nice family that was sitting next to us. We had really nice chat with them and to top it off, they had a dog (we miss Lily).
After lunch we headed up the hill to the Royal Observatory. This is something Dad was very excited about. The girls were overloaded (in their words) and they went through quickly, but we (Dad and I) had a prolonged look. At the observatory we saw the prime meridian. This is 0 longitude, which meant that we could stand with one foot in the East and one foot in the West.
After the observatory it was getting late, so we only had a quick look at the National Maritime Museum. We then had scones with jam and cream for a snack before boarding a boat home instead of using the train. The boat went up the Thames river – this was really cool because it was now dark, and all of the bridges and buildings were lit up. We saw London Bridge, the Tower Bridge, Tower of London, the HMS Belfast and even the London Eye. They looked awesome.
After we got off the boat, we still needed a short train ride to get home. The platform was really packed and when Mum and I got on, the doors closed and Amelia and Dad were stuck on the platform. We got to our station at Earls Court and waited on the platform for them to arrive on the next train.
