Day 2: New sights outside of London

Greenwich Village and the Docklands, 7/1

I woke up from my previous night out at the late hour of 9:30am, much later than anticipated for our ambitious first day out. Our day was spent at Greenwich Village and the Docklands east of London. Having been to London before, I have seen most of the major attractions, so it was a refreshing experience to go somewhere new.

The Cutty Sark, Greenwich Village

We took the tube and changed trains to the DLR into Greenwich Village. A short stroll from the DLR station brought us to the famed clipper ship, the Cutty Sark. The Cutty Sark spent its career sailing across the world hauling tea, sheep, and other goods in record time from 1869 through 1922. The engineering and efficiency of the ship is a testament to why Britain dominated trade during the 19th century. The boat was restored in 2012 after a major overhaul of the ship that brought it back to its original state. The unique, but controversial, display of the ship raised up and protected by glass allows visitors to walk underneath the ship.


The exhibits provided a modern interactive look into the day to day operations of a tea ship. We were impressed with the various exhibits for all ages.

As we made our way through the exhibits starting in the cargo hold and making our way up top side, we learned about the varied life of this once great vessel.  I could see myself using this ship as an example about Britain's dominance in sea trade as well as the realities of technology and how this once record breaking clipper had to give way to the steam ship.

National Naval Museum, Greenwich Village

We left the ship and had a quick lunch at a Nando's nearby, one of my favorite places for chicken, and then made our way to the National Naval Museum. We are strapped for time and had to cut our exploration short, but it was important that I see the famed Painted Hall. I used my phone to make 360 degree panorama shots of the rooms. Click on the linked images for a more immersive view.

Click here to see 360 Panorama

Click here to see 360 Panorama

Completed in 1727, the famed Painted Hall was originally intended to by a dining hall for pensioners, but was deemed to nice and became a place to show off Britain's might to visitors. A friendly docent gave us a full tour of the ceiling and how this became a propaganda piece against Britain's enemies, France and Spain. I was glad to finally see the famed hall used often as an example of Britain's rise to global dominance.

Painted to honor William and Mary of Orange. Note the crushed French king Louis XIV at the heel of king William.

We did a quick pop into the chapel across the courtyard and made our way to the Docklands. Unfortunately, we had to cut out the nearby Royal Observatory due to time constraints. Theres always next time!

The Docklands

Much like the Cutty Sark, the Docklands was the hub for Britain's global trading empire. This was where most goods from the empire came to or left from. As time lurched on, the port and surrounding area became synonymous a a decrepit crime riddled wasteland, but the 1980s brought a boom in redevelopment. We took the DLR from Greenwich into the Docklands and made our way to the Docklands Museum.

The first exhibit of the Docklands Museum

The museum offered an immersive and interactive look into the history of the docklands, the inner mechanics of Britain's trading empire, and a greater history of London. Some notable exhibits including a full recreation of nearby dockland streets during the Victorian period and a deep introspective look at the darker side of Britain's early success, the slave trade. The museum continues on with the downfall of the docklands during the blitz as the Luftwaffe destroyed this shipping area and included a recreated bomb-shelter from the time period. The tour is wrapped up with the fall of port to deep water cargo containers and its eventual redevelopment during the 1980s as an alternative to downtown London.

Top left: carving of the coat of arms for the East India Trading Company. Top right: Olivia inspecting the bomb shelter. Bottom left: a recreation of a docklands street during the victorian era. Bottom right: Entrance to the exhibit on London's role in the slave trade.

After the museum, we made our way with a brief walking tour of the Docklands and weaved our way through the crowds of business people enjoying a pint after a day's work in the surrounding financial district.

Top: Confronting old and new at the docklands Bottom: Walking tour of the business district of the Docklands