Father's Day

Hey, Laura here. On Sunday we took a riverboat cruise on the Thames to Greenwich. We saw a lot of interesting sights along the way, and we had a funny commentator that made the trip seem less long. It was very cold on the top of the boat when we started to go, and I eventually had to wear three coats. Here I am with my dad before the weather turned.

One of the sights that we saw was Cleopatra's Needle. It was given to London by the Egyptians when Cleopatra ruled (hence the name "Cleopatra's Needle"). There is a duplicate of it in New York.

When we got to Greenwich, we saw a crowd gathered in front of the Old Royal Naval College. We heard music, so naturally we wanted to check it out. There were folk dancers and musicians accompanying the dancers. It felt like we were in some small European town. Oh wait.....we are! 

When we finally climbed up the hill to the observatory, we noticed that there was all sorts of information about the Prime Meridian and Greenwich time. So of course my mom made me read it. Sigh.......

We then proceeded to notice that there was a line to get tickets to see the Prime Meridian (which, in case some of you don't know, is the line that divides Western and Eastern Hemispheres). My mom and dad were completely shocked to see that it actually costs money to get in to see the Prime Meridian. The reason that they were shocked was because Rick Steves, who is this travel dude they practically worship, said that it was free. I mean, how could the genius Rick Steves be wrong? Was it even possible?  Anyway, after we got in there was another line to take a picture on the Prime Meridian. Here I am with one foot in each hemisphere.

After we walked back down the hill, we got some ice cream and got on a speedy ferry that took us back to London. We concluded a great Father's Day by having a great dinner at a great restaurant called Grumbles. The food really hit the spot after a tiring day, and we even had enough room in our stomachs for a lemon tart with fresh raspberries. Yum!