On our last full day in London, our group was invited to partake in two cultural events. Both of these events were in Greenwich, and are a part of the Royal Museums Greenwich. Due to a combination of exhaustion and the fact that London Pride was happening on this day, we had a small group for this excursion.
It was a beautiful day for a beautiful walk in Greenwich!
Our first destination was the National Maritime Museum. This large museum hosts a number of exhibits pertaining to sea travel, exploration, cultural stories, and science. The first exhibit we came to was a showcase of photography in astronomy, called Astronomy Photographer of the Year. The multi-room exhibit features many winners, runners up, and short listers, and the images were breathtaking. Permanent exhibits took over most of the floors and museum space, and these included exhibits like Polar Worlds and Pacific Encounters. The museum was well maintained and spacious, and offered a variety of engaging activities and informational areas. I especially loved how children and play were incorporated into museum enjoyment, even without a young child in tow.
A small sampling of the exhibits in the National Maritime Museum.
In the afternoon, those of us remaining for the excursion made the trek up the hill to the Royal Observatory. Not only is this a historically important site given the work done here by royal astronomers, but this is also the home of Greenwich Mean Time and the Prime Meridian Line. While getting up to the observatory was a bit daunting, the view was amazing! I know we were only seeing a part of London, but it was still a great way to cap off an amazing trip.
Look at that view!
The museum itself recounted the lives and legacies of the royal astronomers, while showcasing the technology they used and how it works. I had not previously considered the difficulties with determining longitude versus latitude until I read about all of the attempts to correctly determine longitude at sea and the importance and history of it. The museum did an excellent job of presenting the astronomers and the history of astronomy in Britain.
The beautiful devices in all of these rooms. I wish I could have seen them in use!
My favorite part was going into the Octogon Room and seeing the Great Equitorial Telescope. We were not visiting at a time where use of the devices was available, but even so, seeing the scale of these items and spaces was awe inspiring in itself. I felt that I better understood both the history and importance of astronomy after visiting. More than that, I felt like this was a great way to end our journey and I am so glad that I got to attend!
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