A day in Greenwich

Thursday I went to Greenwich on an architectural tour with the HWC. I was looking forward to the day since David Bellingham, my favourite speaker, was going to be taking us around. (I had previously done other walks with David seeing Roman London, Elizabethan London and Regency London architectures, and he certainly knows his stuff!)

Imagine to my chagrin when there also appeared an American lady who had hijacked the Borough Market tour. "Great!", I thought, "another colossal waste while she goes off on tangents which don't interest the rest of us in the slightest!" I've never met anyone so self-absorbed that they had no idea how irksome they were to others. The whole time we were at the market, she stayed on her cellphone, thus making the guide repeat herself once she finished. In the wine cellar, she tried to get the sommelier to admit that the Italian wine she was having us taste just couldn't measure up to any French wine. Then she proceeded to engage her into a lengthy discussion on how to ship wine to the States, when it was clear that we had a limited amount of time there. Afterwards, at the lunch, she invited a friend (a non-member) and refused to pay for her, then left with 2 complimentary cookbooks from the guide. As I told another friend, if she ruined this trip for me, I would have no compunction in telling her to "shut the f*** up!"

Luckily she was only mildly annoying with her constant references to Chiswick House. I felt like saying: "We're not at Chiswick House, you knob...we're in Greenwich!"

Anyway Greenwich was very interesting. I was surprised to find how close it was to home (less than an hour by tube and DLR) and I've definitely got it scoped for a trip with the kids next time. I'd also forgotten that I had been there before; 5 or 6 yrs ago, Orest's firm had their Christmas party in the Queen's House. We had traveled there by ferry in the evening and then I remember pulling up in buses to the front curved staircase, candles blazing everywhere, a lovely crisp evening. It was built by Inigo Jones (hence the constant references to Chiswick) as a summer palace for the King's wife. Then seeing the Painted Hall was stunning, it was built as a dining hall for the Royal Naval College. I'd love to have a meal there just for the atmosphere!