London in the rear view mirror

August 17-18 Greenwich and my move to Southwark

I realize this is posted long after my return date - alas, it has taken me ten days at home to find the time and the space to post these final pictures. But I owe it to you all to provide these last few stories to round out my trip.

Classic Brittish breakfast: roasted tomatoes
and mushrooms, poached eggs, bacon and sausage

Sunday, August 17th I took a short Thames cruise to Greenwich. Only a short hour away, the village of Greenwich, in the larger borough of Greenwich,

Borough map of greater London

is a quaint maritime town with lots of attractions making it a popular day trip for tourists based in London. It's main attraction for me was its location at the prime meridian, located at longitude 0°, the line separating the Western and the Eastern Hemispheres. Not a big deal, right? But I must admit there was something magical about it. I was reminded of visiting the Four Corners Monument in Southwestern U.S. back in 1997, where four states meet at one point: Utah, New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona. Standing on the prime meridian I imagined the two halves of the earth sewn together in this one place. The earth felt very small and fragile in that moment. Greenwich is also the place where world time is measured (as in Greenwich Mean Time). The Royal Observatory in Greenwich houses many tools developed for sea navigation in the 17th century.

Greenwich: The Cutty Sark, a
surviving 19th c. tea clipper

I walked around the town and ducked in to boutiques to

Greenwich: For sale in a boutique

avoid the rain, which fell about noon and stopped not long after it began. I'd learned to carry a small umbrella, and not let the rainfall deter me. Rain in London seemed a part of the backdrop much like the red busses and the now out-of-use phone booths. A highlight for me was the Greenwich market, which was full of arts & craft stalls and food booths. I was impressed with the quality of the items for sale: hand-turned wood bowls made from green and seasoned locally-sourced lumber and a local photographer selling gorgeous images of England's countryside (yes, I bought a lovely print of a field of bluebells) are just two examples. I bought myself a vinyl purse and a matching lunch sack from one of the stands, passing up all the leather artisans. The market in Greenwich was a highlight from London overall. I highly recommend a stop there.

My room at Carlos's live/work studio

On Monday, August 18th, I moved from Marylebone North of the Thames, to Southwark (pronounced "suthuk") South of the Thames. In Southwark, I had found lodging through airbnb with a Spanish fashion photographer Carlos and his partner Stephan in a live/work loft, a buzzing place full of people working and hanging out. With a large room to myself I was able to find quiet if I wanted it, but I found that after weeks of solo travel I was hungering for contact, and there was plenty of it there. Carlos had two young Italians working for him, a British friend sleeping on the couch, and two young Chinese women renting another of his rooms, so we were an international lot with plenty to talk about.

Southwark after an afternoon rain

Public art in Southwark

The Shard, the tallest building in Europe. 1000 ft.

More public at in Southwark

Southwark was less posh than Marylebone, but I found it full of public art and bustling pubs. Nearby was the Borough Market, a local farmer's market that was open everyday for specialties such as blood sausage, but also fresh vegetables and fruit, fruit and butter, fresh bread and even large pans of paiella.


Stay tuned for my final London chapter, when I ventured to the Tower of London. I'll post about that on another day.