Saturday on the Thames; Sunday in the Park

May 14-15:  Our day started with an underground ride to Tower Hill, followed by a light rail ride to just opposite Greenwich.  We walked a short way south to a round brick access building and down 100 steps  to a tunnel under the River Thames.

Path under the River Thames

We popped up in Greenwich, right next to the Cutty Sark clipper ship.  We turned downstream and began following the last 5 miles of the Thames Path.  We passed the Royal Naval College, the prime meridian (0.00 degrees East/West - I verified on my GPS), and many wharfs, docks and piers, many abandoned and the others active industrial sites.  The main landmark was the O2 Arena, which has become a famous and successful music venue, probably for rock stars and the like.

O2 Arena

There were a number of interesting sculptures along the path, such as a "Slice of Reality" (the segment of the ship shown below) and an upside-down transmission tower, complete with strings of insulators.

Sculpture by O2 Arena

Another interesting sculpture by O2 Arena

On our way to the end of the Thames Path at the Thames Barrier, we passed under the Emirate's Airline Cable Car, a very high tram over the river, connecting the O2 Arena with new developments on the north bank.

The Thames barrier prevents flooding in London by blocking tidal surges from coming upstream.  The gates have been raised over a 100 times since it became operational in 1982.  Most of the time the gates sit horizontally on their cylindrical sills on the riverbed.  It was interesting reading about the engineering and the construction techniques used to prevent the barriers from being eroded by seawater (a lot of paint is involved).

The Thames Barrier

One segment of the Thames Barrier

How the Thames Barrier works

We caught the light rail and underground back to our flat and had a quiet dinner in.

Our Sunday was also relaxed, with an underground ride to Richmond for a 3-mile walk around the largest Royal park in England.  It is home to a large herd of free-roaming fallow deer and many free-range green parakeets.  We had a view back to downtown London, spotting the Shard, the Gherkin,  and the Cheese Grater.  St. Paul's was probably also visible but dwarfed by the big modern buildings.

Richmond Park - Green Parakeet grooming itself

Fallow Deer in Richmond Park

We walked out of the park and along a short bit of the Thames Path in front of Richmond, a  pleasant and picturesque town, full of people enjoying a sunny Sunday.  We treated ourselves to soft ice cream cones and made our way back to the station.  We had arranged a meet-up with Carolyn Whitney and Betsy Hall, who arrived on Saturday for a week of theatre with the Third Rail Theater Group out of Portland.  We had drinks at a bar, the Craft Beer Company, around the corner from their hotel, and talked up a storm.  They had a reception to attend at 6:00 so we left them back at the hotel, and Betsy and I went to the Rock and Sole Restaurant, the best fish and chips place in London.  We sat outside and had an interesting conversation with a couple from Paris.

Cider and Beer, brewed in London

The Best Fish and Chips Restaurant in London

Fish and Chips, half eaten

We came home via the Embankment and watched the 90th Birthday celebration for the Queen on TV.  performed as the closing ceremonies for the Windsor Royal Horse Show.  It was neat to see on tv some of the performances we saw in person on Thursday when we were at the horse show.