Chalk Horse and Kite Flying

21 August 2018, Tuesday

We drove about 30 minutes from Oxford to see the Uffington white chalk horse, a Bronze Age image of a horse carved into the hillside.  It would be more interesting to have an aerial view of the horse, but we enjoyed the pretty views from on top of the hill.  Check out a picture of the horse on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uffington_White_Horse

And we flew a kite!  We searched several stores in Oxford for a kite, and finally found one in Aldi’s.  I had read that it is always windy enough to fly a kite on the top of this hill.  The kids enjoyed it :)

Climbing the hill

White chalk horse, at the top of the hill

Dinner in Greenwich

19 August 2018, Sunday

We ate dinner at Zizzi’s, which is an Italian chain with tasty food.  The best part was being on their rooftop dining area, where we had great views of the river, the city, and the Cutty Sark.  We also watched airplanes on approach to Heathrow!

King William Walk in Greenwich, with the Cutty Sark in the distance

Dinner at Zizzi's

The Cutty Sark

Pedaloing and the Prime Meridian

19 August 2018, Sunday

One thing on the kids’ to-do list this summer was hire a pedalo - a British paddle boat.  They got their wish on the boating lake in Greenwich Park, and it was even more fun when we realized the Prime Meridian runs right through the lake.

So, we paddled back and forth between the eastern and western hemispheres for 20 minutes.  Being in Greenwich today was the kids’ first time in the eastern hemisphere.

After boating, we walked up the hill to the Royal Observatory and enjoyed the view over London and Greenwich.

Paddling in Greenwich Park

The boating lake

Straddling two hemispheres!

Royal Observatory

View over London and Greenwich

The Queen's House

The official Prime Meridian marker

The Queen's House, Greenwich

19 August 2018, Sunday

Adjacent to the National Maritime Museum stands the grand Queen’s House.  It was built in the early- to mid-17th century for Queen Anne of Denmark, James I (VI for Scotland)'s queen.  Designed by Inigo Jones, it used all the stylish and modern architectural standards of the time.

Through the centuries, the house was used as a royal residence and guest house for the royal family.  The site of the house is near the former Tudor Palace of Greenwich, which has significance as the birthplace of Queen Elizabeth I.  The Queen’s House now contains an interesting gallery of paintings, and some of Elizabeth I’s famous portraits are featured.  

The Queen's House

Great Hall; it is a perfect cube

Looking down in the Great Hall

Circular stairwell, innovative for requiring no central support

Maritime paintings

Tudor paintings

Sitting with QEI

Queen Elizabeth I Armada portrait

National Maritime Museum, Greenwich

19 August 2018, Sunday

I didn’t know much about ships and seafaring, but our visit to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich piqued my interest!  We learned about the structure of gunships, and it was fascinating to see actual 32-lb cannonballs lodged in the masts of prominent battleships.

We learned about Admiral Nelson and his famous battle of Trafalgar in 1805, where the British Navy defeated French and Spanish navies.  British Naval power was demonstrated, but Nelson was shot and died.  Nelson’s uniform, complete with the bullet hole in the left shoulder, was on display, along with J.M.W. Turner’s famous painting, “Battle of Trafalgar.”

There were also some good children’s areas, with a mix of play and factual information.  Since my ship knowledge was previously quite limited, those kids’ displays were right at my level!

National Maritime Museum

The map room

Interesting ship rigging

Model of 

Admiral Nelson

Lodged canon ball in a mast from the gunship Victory

Nelson's uniform

Another lodged canon ball

J.M.W. Turner's painting, "The Battle of Trafalgar"

Driving to London

19 August 2018, Sunday

The train used to be our primary transportation to London, but this summer we’ve become very confident about driving into the city.  It’s easy to research parking ahead of time, parking usually costs less than the train fare, and then we can be flexible about our arrival and departure times.

And this time, on our way to and from Greenwich, we got to cross the Tower Bridge twice!

Lazy Saturday

18 August 2018, Saturday

D went to work today, so the kids and I had a lazy Saturday.  We watched morning cartoons (including Peppa Pig) and made pancakes.  It was a good day of rest between our busy Friday in Winchester and Salisbury, and our upcoming busy Sunday in London!