Day Six: NOT ENOUGH TIME FOR GREENWICH, and I MADE FOOD

I think I pretty much have the blueprint of my average day sorted out by now. I have settled into a fantabulous routine of wake up, eat breakfast, catch the tube/walk, go to class/visit a famous museum, find a little cafe and have a cappuccino, often some cake/brownie etc, and read, take the tube/walk home, make dinner, eat dinner, shower, do more reading, edit the vlog, write the blog, sleep. It really doesn't get much more complicated than that. 

Today we had the privilege of having "class" at the Royal Observatory, in Greenwich! We used three different tubes to get there, and had to climb a massive hill (really not so big, but we were feeling lazy) up to the observatory. The observatory is actually, and I think I'm right in saying this, part of the chief observer's house, or at least it was way back when the building was used as an observatory. So it has displays about how the house used to be and who stayed where and all that. It also houses exhibition after exhibition of clocks and time and naval navigation devices, as well as little blurbs about the famous contributors to all that knowledge.

Statue outside the observatory; someone Wolff

I find some of the displays too "organised" for my liking, in that there is no space left for the imagination: the information is just handed to you blandly, and I think that a museum, although definitely giving the accurate information clearly, should also incorporate the natural curiosity of humans into the equation, leaving some room for interpreting and thinking to happen.

Regardless of my own opinion, however, the museum was amazing. I love how the British seem to be able to support all these historical mines of information! Most of it is free, too, which astonishes me, first because of how much money must be needed to look after the myriad museums literally littered around London, and England, and secondly because of how well-kept and well-staffed all of them are! Who pays for it all? 

I also saw the Thames for the first time today, while we were riding the DLR (Dockland Light Rail or something like that). Every time I glimpse a panorama of London, I can't help but think of Wordworth's "Earth hath not anything to show more fair" and "dull would he be of soul who could pass by/ a sight so touching in its majesty". When I saw the Thames from the Queen's Palace, it was no different; the same reaction was elicited. If Wordsworth could know how often those few lines have stepped into my thoughts, he would be so satisfied! They just seem to apply to everything! 

So, after the Royal Observatory, we trundled down the hill to the National Maritime museum, also plein de choses! SO MUCH STUFF. By far the most poignant and memorable object I saw there was the actual coat that Lord Nelson died in! (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) You can even see the hole in the left should where the bullet went in. We regrouped at a generic cafe inside the museum where no-one ordered anything, and while we were discussing the visit, I ate the sandwich I'd made with last night's left-over tuna. This meant I didn't need to eat lunch later, which meant I could eat cake instead!

From there, we crossed an expanse of grass to Queen Anne's Palace. Designed by Inigo Jones (who has a seriously cool and seriously random name), it really does cast a shadow of royal brilliance on its surroundings. When the hospital, which I'm not sure what it is now, was built in between the palace and the river, it had to be split in two so that the queen's view of the river wasn't obstructed! Oh to be royal.

The Tulip Staircase

A handsome man called Commander James Clark Ross, one of the few good-looking portraits in the palace.

(I also the original portrait of King Henry VIII - that one you see every time you think of him!)

After wandering around and around the palace, where we saw the famous tulip staircase, we made our way to Greenwich Market. I wonder what the British, who are so proud of their markets, would think of the Flea Market back home! I didn't want grungy street food, so I ventured off to discover a cafe. I found one called Paul Rhodes Cafe, which had a gorgeous assortment of cakes and treat-like affairs. I spent a long time debating between the carrot cake and the brownie, but in the end I settled for carrot cake and a cappuccino, large. I sat at the counter and did some of my photography reading, and eventually, I'd say two hours later, I decided I should start heading home.

So I packed up my stuff, put my hat on my head, (because it was 24 degrees Celsius outside!) and stepped onto the pavement. I couldn't resist the allure of Greenwich, so I told myself that I could explore for a little bit - which turned into about an hour of exploration. I saw THE Cutty Sark, which you should be able to see in my Vlog for Day 6, when I get that up, and then I went into the Old Royal Naval School, with its imposing gates, and followed the signs to the Painted Hall, and the Chapel. I didn't go inside the Painted Hall because they were doing some sort of work in there, but I did find my way into the Chapel, which is also somehow called the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul. I think it is definitely more suited to the title "church", because "chapel" as a descriptor doesn't carry a regal enough connotation. This church was gigantic and beautiful. I dislike it when people come in and talk loudly in a church, because I think it disturbs the enormous weight of history and reverence that sits in the shadows of the silent arches and gilt frames and in the crooks of the arms of the sculpted saints.

I sat there for half an hour, and wrote about it, to see if my description could pay any semblance of homage to the magnificence before my eyes. I'd just been reading about the invasion that photography is, and its incapacity to represent an experience wholly, and that reading seemed suited to my moment in the church. Photos just wouldn't do it justice, as the saying goes, and I think that writing can achieve what a photo cannot simply by virtue of its nature of accepted subjectivity: where society expects a photo to convey the crystal-clear truth, it allows and expects human input and individual understanding to come out in a written or oral description of a place. So I wrote, and maybe I'll put that up soon too.

I eventually came home and made REAL LIVE SUPPER. Well, the poor ham was long dead, but my supper was real! I used a sauce-pan and a frying-pan, and I made pasta, which didn't stick to the bottom of the pan, in boiling water which didn't overflow, and I combined cream and garlic and mushrooms and onions and ham correctly, and I added some salt and some spices and it all worked out. I was so proud of my little bowl of cooked dinner. I even made sure I didn't finish all of it, because I wanted some to take for lunch tomorrow. I mean, I cooked a little bit too much, so there were left-overs anyway.

All in all, it was a very successful day. A beautiful day too! Please God may the sun stay shining!