Today was a new experience for both of us: took the Thames Clipper (like a bigger version of a Brisbane Citycat) to the museum complex at Greenwich. There are 5: The Royal Observatory, The Maritime Museum, The Queen’s House, The Cutty Sark and the old Royal Naval Hospital. We didn’t worry about the Cutty Sark, but visited the Observatory, two special exhibitions at the Maritime Museum, The Queen’s House and The Painted Hall in the old hospital but truly you could spend days here.

I wanted to see the 0 degrees, 0 minutes, 0 seconds longitude line at the Observatory (aka where the western and eastern hemispheres meet). But there are really interesting timekeeping and astronomy exhibits as well. The observatory is set on a hill overlooking a big park, behind the other museums and the views down to the river as fabulous.

After that we headed to the Queen’s House which has a collection of portraits of the great and the good, including the Armada portrait of Elizabeth I, but then also has some quirky modern works including some by kiwi Marian McGuire who I didn’t know but whose work was really interesting. Unfortunately we couldn’t see some of the galleries as there was a fancy and undoubtedly very expensive wedding on. From there it was off to two special exhibits at the Maritime Museum: one on the Moon, including it’s representation in myth and art as well as lunar exploration, the other on astronomy photography.

Although pretty tired, we still managed a whistle stop tour through parts of the Old Hospital, including the amazing Painted Hall: 19 years in the making it was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and painted by Sir James Thornhill starting in 1707. Conveniently they have leather couches to allow you to lie back and look at the painted ceilings in comfort!

After another pleasant and quick trip back to the city – only 20 minutes – and a restorative gin and dinner we are done. Joining our Thomas Tallis music festive trip tomorrow.