Finally back after 34 years!

After a very long flight we land at Heathrow. Apparently it is the end of the Easter break and it takes us 2 Hours to get through customs and baggage retrieval. Then we are on our way to Stratford via the tube. Patrick (a friend of my cousin Anthony) has waited up to let us in and show us around the flat. We tumble into bed but only end up getting a few hours sleep as we are too excited.

This morning we got up and spent a lovely morning meeting Patrick and Margaret and having a tour around Stratford. Patrick has been most helpful organising our IT things such as an English Sim. We say goodbye to Patrick and Margaret as they are going back to their house in Cambridgshire and we will catch up with them later

In the afternoon we get some fish and chips ( so much for the alkaline diet!) and head for the tube. We arrive in Greenwich and explore along the river. We have a look over the Cutty Sark the last remaining clipper. It was originally a tea clipper in the China seas and then later did Australia picking up wool and sometimes coal etc. it has been beautifully restored and has many interactive displays. We get very wet in a sudden downpour which included some hail! The hull was completely plated with copper to make it faster

 

Then we strolled along the Thames and checked out the beautiful buildings.

This is where one of the original royal palaces was. It was called the palace of Placentia Henry VIII and both Mary and Elizabeth were born here.

The present buildings were built on this site as a naval hospital for seaman. The building up the back is the Queen's House (Mary II). The hospital was designed in 2 pieces so as not to block Queens view of the river.

This is called the Painted Hall. It was the dining room for the seamen in the Greenwich hospital. Pretty grand!

Then the sun broke out for a little while

 

Close by was the Maritime museum. Geoff was particularly interested in the exhibit about the Artic Convoys in the Second World War because his Dad was in the Merchant Navy and was part of these convoys.

 

Last stop for the day was the church of St Alphage. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury who was killed by the Danes in 1012.