Greenwich for the day

A few weeks ago I visited the London borough of Greenwich for the first time. Famous for the home of Time - Greenwich Mean Time or GMT-  as well as it's harbour and meridian line.

The borough, located just south of the Thames is the perfect destination for a sunny afternoon.

Unlike many areas of London, in Greenwich it's almost as if you have entered village or town- rather than just another bit of London. It reminded me a bit of being in Windsor - but much easier to get to of course. Mainly, the streets were not packed with camera-snappy tourists, and there was green and quiet - it felt apart from the general hustle-bustle of central London life.

While there, we bought some pastries and wandered through the National Maritime Museum, and saw some sweet boats, pieces of boats, historical facts about boats, and tools used on boats. Not bad for a quick 30-minute spin through the museum.

We then climbed up the hill through a beautiful park - with the first hints of sunshine and a promise of spring on the air.  The hill offers beautiful views of the city of London's financial district, although it's a steep walk up the hill!

As always with London, there's a pleasing mixture of the old and new in the view: from the Queen's house, and a royal park, to the powerhouses of banks like HSBC housed in glass towers. Quite a skyline!

Once you reach the top, there is a surprising number of tourists milling around the top - taking pictures of themselves standing on the meridian, touring the Royal Observatory and -while we were there - using a telescope to look at solar flares on the sun.

Getting there and away:

Greenwich is no more than a 15 minute train ride from central London.  We took the DLR to Cutty Sark station - these unmanned tube trains are a destination in themselves, winding in and out of glass-plated buildings and overlooking splendid views of the Thames.