Greenwich Mean Time Anyone?

Our second day in London with Grandma and Grandpa, we decided to head on over to Greenwich. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't thrilled with this idea for a couple of reasons:

1) I'm not a huge fan of museums. I know, it's not what an educated mom is supposed to say. But it's true. I generally don't like museums. And there were two in Greenwich.

2) I like to look at architecture... castles, towers, cathedrals. Not arbitrary lines drawn in the Earth. It just isn't my cup of tea.

3) Greenwich is on the far east side of London. We were staying at Heathrow which is on the far west side of London. London is HUGE. I knew getting from one side to the other was going to be an ordeal.

But, surprisingly, it isn't all about me, and we went anyway. Plus, Greenwich is known for it's huge multi-cultural food market. And we all know I do like food.

Well, the trip there was an adventure... but it was actually really fun. We first drove to the closest tube stop with free parking. (Although the website neglected to mention that 2/3 of this parking lot would be covered with an outdoor market on a Saturday. Ooops.) After much circling and people stalking, we finally found a spot. Then we loaded everything up... literally. We forgot to bring the stroller on this particular trip... so everything had to be carried. Including the baby.

We took the tube into central London, and then boarded a boat that took us up the Thames to Greenwich. The boat ride was so much fun, and we got some awesome views of the Tower Bridge!

After getting off the boat, the first stop was the food market to get some yummy lunch. This proved to be quite logistically challenging as all four adults were wandering around a very crowded market trying to find food. It took us FOREVER, but eventually we all got something yummy to eat. And yes, I let N have a banana and nutella crepe for lunch. I intended to share it with him... but that didn't happen. I don't know why I thought it would!

In the meantime... we had a little issue. The baby exploded. In the Bjorn. While daddy was wearing it. There may or may not have been poo on daddy's jeans. Daddy does not like poo... especially on his jeans. Daddy was not happy. I didn't bring any spare clothes for the baby. The visitor center was closed for renovation. So I changed a very dirty baby on a park bench. The baby wasn't happy. It was cold. I used all the wipes I had brought with me for the day, and had to put him back into a wiped up as best as I could snowsuit and Baby Bjorn. We threw the onesie away in the nearest rubbish bin. It wasn't worth saving. The people around us weren't happy. Good times.

After lunch we headed for the very non memorable maritime museum... and then on to the main attraction, the observatory. Which is that building on top of that hill.

I know it doesn't look like it's a huge hill, but trust, me it is. Especially when you're three and your legs are short and your mom has to carry you the last half of the way. Or when you're dad and you have to carry 40+ pounds of little boy up the hill.

At the top of the hill, we found it. The magical line in the ground. The prime meridian. Where the east hemisphere meets the west. Right in Greenwich, England.

While waiting in line to stand in two hemispheres at once, I plotted this picture in my brain. It alone made the day worth while. One of my favorite pictures of us, we're all in two hemispheres!

Then more forgettable museum time... (there was a whole room of clocks, painful!) and back down the hill we went. And if you're lucky, Grandpa might just give you a piggy back ride!

We completed the day with a walk under the Thames before beginning our long return journey back across London. Not my favorite outing, but I got a good photo!