Greenwich

For something a bit different, today we caught the 199 bus in the opposite direction to visit Greenwich and see the prime meridian. Yes, that's where Greenwich Mean Time or Zulu time is set. It was only a short 15 minute bus ride from Lisa's front door to the heart of Greenwich. After climbing the hill to the royal observatory, we entered the 'free' (Lisa and & Ben tried to con me out of 10 pounds) visitor centre. Greenwich has been the home of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) since 1884. The Greenwich Meridian (also known as the prime meridian) marks the starting point of every time zone in the world. Here I am straddling the prime meridian:

British astronomers have long used the Royal Observatory as a basis for measurement: four separate meridians have been drawn through the building. The basis of longitude, the Prime Meridian, established in 1851 and adopted at an international conference in 1884, passes through the Airy transit circle of the observatory. It was long marked by a brass strip in the courtyard, now upgraded to stainless steel, and, since December 16, 1999, has been marked by a powerful green laser shining north across the London night sky.

On top of the observatory, a time ball was installed by Astronomer John Pond in 1883. It still drops daily to mark the exact moment of 1300 hrs year round. Ok, enough of a history lesson! From the Royal Observatory there is also a great view of southern London. You can see St Paul's, the gerkin, the National Maritime Museum and Millenium Dome to name a few.

We made our way back through the Greenwich Markets where we found a great slice stall.

As we had a 3pm appointment at Fulham we caught the bus back to Canada Water station. About two stops before the station I noticed a couple and their little girl get off the bus. As the bus pulled away I saw the lady running after the bus and realised she must have left something on board. Lisa and I decided to check where they were sitting, and found that she had left her handbag on board! So having a good samartin moment, we pressed the bell and hopped off at the next stop and ran back towards the previous stop to see if we could try and find them. As we ran around a corner, we bumped straight into them and she couldn't believe that we had her bag! There is nothing worse than loosing your handbag, and if we hadn't picked it up, it would have been stolen for sure. She was so appreciative - and even offered to buy us a beer! It was good to do something nice for somone - even if we were now running late!