Today is our anniversary and I awoke with Wes wishing me happy anniversary. He quietly got up and put a message on facebook before I could do so. For the record, today is our 1 year anniversary and it has been a wonderful year with lots of adventures.
We are checking the weather each day before commiting ourselves to our touring tasks. The weather here has been very wet and cloudy so we pick out goals carefully. Today the weather is to be broken clouds with a low chance of rain. London Eye here we come.
The London Eye is a giant 135-metre (443 ft) tall Ferris wheel situated on the banks of the River Thames. Since 20 January 2011, it has been officially known as the EDF Energy London Eye following a three-year sponsorship deal.
It is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe, and the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, visited by over 3.5 million people annually. When erected in 1999, it was the tallest Ferris wheel in the world, until surpassed first by the 160 m (520 ft) Star of Nanchang in 2006, and then the 165 m (541 ft) Singapore Flyer in 2008. It is still described by its operators as "the world's tallest cantilevered observation wheel" (as the wheel is supported by an A-frame on one side only, unlike the Nanchang and Singapore wheels).
We arrived to join the line up for the tickets. From the ticket booth we headed into the 4 minute 4D studio to enjoy a short film. The 3D visual required the glasses and we experienced the 4 seasons with sprinkling rain and snow. As we left the theatre we joined the line outside to gain access for our ride on the Eye. (The line up moved steadily and we were in a line up for about 45 minutes only.) The Eye moves continuously and slowly so a ride involves one loop which takes about 27 minutes. To get on we needed to step into the bubble car as it slowly moved along the platform. Then about half way up the first side we stopped and then started back down. We figured someone freaked out and they had to reverse to help them get off. Then we continued on up. The views were absolutely incredible. We had purchased a guide so that we could orient and locate the sights in the 360 degrees.
We returned to the ground and decided that since the weather was still holding (as in no rain) we should use the two for one coupon on the City Tours (boat tour). We knew that there was a dock across the bridge on the other side of the Thames but as we walked that direction we came across a ticket booth selling tickets so we stopped there. We learned that for us to use the 2 for 1 coupon we had to go to a particular booth back the way we had just come. We were glad we had stopped and found this out rather than walk across the bridge only to have to walk back.
The boat trip was great as we headed down river toward Greenwich. The commentary included comments about some of the historical buildings and events as we travelled along. We saw converted warehouses, the Canada Tower (tallest building in the United Kingdom until 2009 when the construction of the Shard Building surpassed it even though it is still under construction), Captain Kidd Pub, converted warehouses etc. We learned about the tidal impact of the Thames river which increases by tide by 7 meters and has dam gates to control tidal surges. The commentary on the river cruise was excellent and informative.
We arrived at Greenwich where we disembarked to have a look at the Royal Observatory. The Royal Observatory, Greenwich (formerly the Royal Greenwich Observatory or RGO, played a major role in the history of astronomy and navigation, and is best known as the location of the prime meridian. It is situated on a hill in Greenwich Park, overlooking the River Thames. We had to walk up the hill but it was worth the trek. We had been warned that it was a climb, but compared to what we hike it was just a minor stroll.
The observatory was commissioned in 1675 by King Charles II, with the foundation stone being laid on 10 August. At this time the king also created the position of Astronomer Royal to serve as the director of the observatory and to "apply himself with the most exact care and diligence to the rectifying of the tables of the motions of the heavens, and the places of the fixed stars, so as to find out the so much desired longitude of places for the perfecting of the art of navigation." With the increase in sea travel the need to find a way to calculate longitude was critical for safety.
British astronomers have long used the Royal Observatory as a basis for measurement: four separate meridians have been drawn through the building. The basis of longitude, the Prime Meridian, established in 1851 and adopted at an international conference in 1884, passes through the Airy transit circle of the observatory. It was long marked by a brass strip in the courtyard, now upgraded to stainless steel, and, since 16 December 1999, has been marked by a powerful green laser shining north across the London night sky.
We were able to walk through the museum of astronomical and navigational tools, which is part of the National Maritime Museum, notably including John Harrison's prize-winning longitude marine chronometer, H4, and its three predecessors, although all four are the property of the Ministry of Defence. Several additional horological artifacts were also displayed, documenting the history of precision timekeeping for navigational and astronomical purposes, including the mid 20th century Russian-made F.M. Fedchenko clock (the most accurate pendulum clock ever built in multiple copies). It is also home to the 28-inch Grubb refracting telescope of 1893, the largest of its kind in the UK. The Shepherd Clock outside the observatory gate is an early example of an electric slave clock.
The need to create accurate time was important for calculating longitude since the longitude changes by one hour every 15 degrees change. Longitude at a point may be determined by calculating the time difference between that at its location and Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Since there are 24 hours in a day and 360 degrees in a circle, the sun moves across the sky at a rate of 15 degrees per hour (360°/24 hours = 15° per hour). So if the time zone a person is in is three hours ahead of UTC then that person is near 45° longitude (3 hours × 15° per hour = 45°). I mention this because this required two things to be accurate, the ability to calculate the angle of the sun at noon and the time at location and the GMT where the longitude is set internationally as 0 degrees. The museum walked us through the development of the ability to determine and measure the angle of the sun at noon and the development of clocks, both land and sea clocks.
We joined the line up (yep there are line ups everywhere) so we could take our picture on the 0 degree median. This monument is set on the 0 degree and has a spear pointing skyward showing you the direction of the 0 degree median. In addition there is a laser beam that shoots a line down the median which apparently at night can be seen for 15 miles.
By now it was getting towards 5 pm and it was time to head homeward. We had decided that taking the boat back up the river was possible, but not very informative so we decided to head home by the metro. We arrived at the metro station to learn that it is closed. Ok, we lucked out in that we learned this before the last boat travelled back up the river and we did have a ticket to take the boat. So we got back on the boat and headed back to Tower Bridge.
At Tower Bridge we got off to take the metro from this location, only to learn again that we are faced with a closed metro station. There is a lot of upgrading happening and it seems that so far we are finding the metro stations that are closed. We then hopped onto a double decker bus to travel back to Trafalgar Square. Finally we found a metro station that was open. By the time we got back to Haynes it was about 7:30. This means that the trip that should have been about 1 hour was closer to 2 ½ hours. What a bit of adventure that was. We met several other tourists on our travels that were also a bit frustrated but in fairness there are notices out about the closures – if you know in advance which routes you will be taking.
We stopped at our local pub for dinner. Again this was a bit of an adventure as we learned that the menus are only decoration. Tonight they do not have an English menu cook, so the only thing we are able to have tonight is Indian food. But wait, they do not have all the ingredients so only some of the menu items are available. The food is good, so really this is not serious, just a bit frustrating when trying to order. We had a really good day but it was a very long day and I am concerned that Wes will suffer tomorrow, so we will see if his energy has returned from when he was sick.
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