When we had all gathered together, huddling beneath Peter's awesome aura for warmth, he opened up with a brief history of the Greenwich (pronounced Grenich). This area was invaded by the Danes in the 700's who then established a village that has remained and since been taken back under English rule.  The Isle of Docks, Greenwich's port area on the Thames, was London's main port town up until WWII. To this day there is a pedestrian tunnel cutting beneath the Thames river.



















On the inside are several rooms devoted to replicating the type of living environments that an important government official lived in. They may seem rudimentary but this is what the Astronomer Royal was given. The rooms themselves are not overly large, but rather built for purpose and simplicity.




Technically I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside. So I had to sneak shots whenever possible. They had security cameras and alert guards seemingly everywhere so my heart was pumping with each picture haha. I was JACKED, never felt so alive in my life.
I was particularly interested in this display (below) called the "H1" Harrison's First Timekeeper. I shielded my camera from the guard and turned the flash off to snag a shot. I also wrote down the captions on the display case. Check this out:
"Harrison spent 45 years of his life developing a portable sea-going timekeeper that would work accurately, in spite of a ship's motion and temperature change. Each timekeeper represents years of obsessive labour.
      This timekeeper took five years to build in 1736. It was tested on a sea voyage to Lisbon and back. Harrison was very seasick, but the timekeeper worked. It was the most accurate seagoing clock then known, though not quite accurate enough to win the 20,000 pound prize."

    "This clock runs without oil and is corrected for temperature changes using a brass and steel "gridiron" mechanism. Instead of pendulum, the clock has two connected bar-balances. Harrison believed the ship's movements would affect them in equal-but-opposite directions and would thus be cancelled out.
     By 1760, Harrison had solved the Longitude problem with his 4th marine timekeeper, now known as the "H4". It is one of the most important machines ever made." Pretty impressive stuff, eh?




This sweet looking thing was sitting in the courtyard between sections of the observatory. If you want read the description you can click on the picture and a window will open up with a larger version.













The emphasis on time is important for the Royal Observatory because this point here is the exact location of the Greenwich Meridian, the prime meridian of the world! This spot exactly is 0 degrees longitude, the rest of the system around the globe is based on this spot. An International Conference was held and the 24-timezone system was implemented fully in 1884.







We took a break after the observatory and rested up on a bench overlooking the Hunting grounds and a view of London further on. It's pictures like these that remind me how things come and go... like hair.


A few friends I've made on the trip! Michael and Danil. This tree on the left was awesome so we climbed it.


The buildings to either side of the Palace served as additional and complements of the initial structure itself. They were both built shortly after the Palace, several years later. It was only in the 1900's that the Victorians decided to join the structures together with the colonnade walkways. "They do not," -Peter.


This is a shot of the opposite side of the Queen's Palace.  That small door at the bottom is where we entered as a class. When we arrived, we were reminded that photography was strictly forbidden. This resulted in a lot of secret picture taking, numerous reminders and warnings not to take any more picture, and Peter pretending to scold us before the cycle started all over again.







This is why I ignored the warnings. This is the Tulip Staircase, and it's even more impressive in person. I knelt at the bottom and snagged a shot towards the top! How could they censor this? The way it's built is by placing planks of wood only 3 inches into the wall all around the circular room. Every higher step is supported by the one below it. It doesn't sound like it would work, but id does, and this is proof.

Peter also pointed out the symmetry of the flooring and the ceiling, both circular. The shots aren't the best because apparently they hired Principle Trunchbull to patrol the building. She was everywhere.

These are a few hip-shots taken of the portraits of King James the 1st. Doesn't look overwhelmingly manly? He wasn't. James was primarily gay. The marraige to Anne of Denmark was mostly political. And the building of the Queen's palace was as much a way to put distance between him and her as it was a genuine gift to the Queen. Still, they were pleasant with one another. They just didn't want to spend all their time together.
Peter giving us some pointers about the place. The man's a genius. On the right is a massive fireplace given as a yet another gift to Anne. But why a picture of James is on the wall, I do not know.


It's a filthy shame this was the only shot I got of the ceiling. I probably needed a flash to capture it correctly but that would have alerted the authorities. This is one of the only rooms in the building with a painted ceiling still intact. This is mostly because the mural was painted directly on to the ceiling rather than on a canvas and then plastered on. Vandals have long since stolen all of those pieces of work and sold them for profit.







As we left the Queen's Palace we walked over to the Royal Naval College.











The two buildings here were designed by two different architects. Each representing a particular time frame, as well as personal style of the architects that built them. The red brick building with the columns in the front was built by Christopher Ren in 1694. They blocky gray building was designed by Nicholas Hawksmore from 1710-20. Ren represented a break from the typical symmetrical and boxy style of design prevalent before him, while Hawksmore exemplified a return to that type of symmetry and blockiness that Ren tried to avoid.


These picture below may seem like mirror images of one another but they are in fact nearly identical structures that face one another in the center of the college. If you look closely they do in fact have minute differences, including a clock only on one of the domes. The building on the right is the Cafeteria, an extremely inadequate word for what lies within...

While Ren designed the structure of the building itself, it was James Thornhill whom the King commissioned to paint the interior. At the offer of 3 pounds for every square yard painted on the ceiling, and 1 pound per square yard everywhere else, Thornhill decided to paint literally every available space in the hall! The title of the dining hall quickly became:


















Thornhill had a unique sense of style that included humour. "Notice the naughty little short-haired cupid knicking that garland."  And of course no picture is complete without a cupid with no other purpose than to show his rosy cheeks to the audience.





Thornhill also tended to poke fun at his peers. The little dwarf in red is none other than Christopher Ren. By placing him directly at the King's side, as well as his hand on his thigh, Thornhill is showing what he thought about Ren's profitable relationship with the king. Another Interesting tidbit here is that Ren is holding the King's orb, usually meant only for the king (including the scepter) like a toy.




This angle of the same picture includes Thornhill himself. Notice the dismissive expression on his face. He seems to be one of the only characters facing away from everything in the painting. He did paint it after all. The only thing he does seem interested in is payment from the King, see his extended hand? His other hand is opened to the spectators, in case you're mesmerized and want to give a donation in support of this marvelous work. I am mesmerized Thorny, but I think you got paid pretty well.








The view from this window was inconveniently blocked by a building, so the obvious solution was to paint a new, better view! I can imagine what Thornhill told the King with this one... "Why pay for expensive glass when you could pay ME to paint you a window!?"






From left to right: Hannah, Amanda, Lauren, Chivaun, and Kelsey... Say hi girls!

I think i deserve lunch for that...
This is like one of those, "Can you tell the difference" pictures. Can you? The Painted Hall is contained in the picture to the right. The dome on the left contains the following...






The one main painting stood on the far side of the church. It depicts the shipwreck that Paul the Apostle miraculously survived off the coast of Malta. I had to grab a very close seat to hear Peter talking. He was being very respectful.


A beautiful pipe-organ in the back stands ready for use  above the entrance at the back of the church.

It is the naval college, so marine themes run throughout, including this marble image of a rope and anchor.




















To each side, above the balconies were these wonderful depictions of the Saints, or if you're slightly less Catholic, the Apostles. There were more, but I only included those who wrote the Gospels :) Matthew (TL) Mark (TR) Luke (BL) and John (BR)