Thames, Greenwich and A Bit of Sake…
Trip Start
Jun 19, 2009
1
Trip End
Jun 24, 2009
London, England, United Kingdom
Monday, June 22, 2009
So we landed at Heathrow’s terminal 3 at 7am after inching our way through the sluggish westbound traffic. We made our way to the terminal 1,2,3 tube station and hopped onto the Piccadilly line to Acton Town. A changeover to the District line to Ealing Broadway and a final ride on the jam-packed Central line brought us to North Acton.
Trentham Court – a new but dull-looking apartment block was just across the station; the interiors were a bit like those in an era-period French Hotel. A sixth-floor flat shared with Sachin, Narender & Pankaj was to be our address for two days in London.
Since the weather was being unnaturally kind, we wanted to check out the countryside. Quick fire googling threw up Dover, the Windsor Castle, Brighton & other nearby getaways. However, being penny wise and pound doubly so, we opted for Greenwich.
A longish eastbound ride in the tube took us to Westminster – the heart of the real city. An African (could've also be a Caribbean) greeted us at the exit playing some delightful tune on the guitar. Having formed a habit of pepping myself up with a daily cuppa, I dragged Kaps all around to find the Starbucks joint. However, the search proved futile and I had to settle for Café Nero, which was equally good. The black coffee was distinctly aromatic and savouring your pre-noon cuppa under a sunny sky below the Big Ben is not bad after all.
We hit the Westminster pier and bought ourselves a return trip to Greenwich. The Thames ferry services are extremely punctual and so at 12 noon we were on our way. The ride to Greenwich is approx 60 mins long and takes one through the heart of London. Atop our partly covered boat, we got a grandstand view of some iconic structures of the past and present era – the London Eye, NGMA, Tate Modern, the Monument, it was endless; enroute we also sailed under some of the best bridges in the world – Waterloo, Blackfriars, London bridge, Tower brigde, another endless parade. And then as we crossed Canary Wharf, the city fell behind and the shores were replaced with ageing dockyards and empty wharves – it almost looked like a different world.
We touched Greenwich at 1pm. Greenwich feels like this small town hidden in the midst of a bustling metropolis where you could slow down a bit and tend to the little pleasures in life – which for me is in walking. We walked down the main street to the Greenwich post office. There I marked post cards to the two most important women in my life – my sis and one. Then we meandered our way through the tiny, neatly paved streets to the park containing the Royal Observatory. The Prime Meridian – the one that matters - runs through the Royal Observatory. It is a great feeling to stand across the Meridian with one feet in 0 degree W and the other in 0 degree E and imagine that if one were to circumnavigate this line, it would lead you to the centre of the Pacific Ocean right on the other side of the globe..!
It was 3pm by then and we needed a quick refill to last another few hours. As Kaps was unwilling to touch anything made with cheese (which was pretty much everything – he believed that they laced cheese with beef out here – don’t know where he read it) and I was unwilling to eat anything remotely Indian, we agreed on a protein bar (exclusively for me) and thick strawberry milkshake (before he could extend the beef-in-cheese theory to milk as well). As we were not done with Greenwich yet, we hopped onto the red bus and went to the o2 arena (millennium dome as it was known earlier). It is nothing but a huge dome that houses eating joints & movie screens and hosts live rock shows. To me it seemed like a colossal waste of space – just a glorified mall.
At 4:20 pm we reached the pier behind the o2 arena and found ourselves on a freshly laid out stretch - the Thames river walkway. It was almost twelve hours since our day had begun; we could have taken a bus back to the Greenwich pier. However, given that I had an accurate map, doing the walkway seemed a logical thing to do – it would not be more than 40 mins. And since the last ferry was leaving at 6, we had enough time on hand.
As it turned out, the walk was to be one of the most challenging assignments for me in recent times. Just minutes into it, Kaps’s back gave away – I offered to carry his backpack for him. After 10 mins, the adjoining cycling track ended – and surprisingly we encountered no one on the way for the next 40 mins. The pretty walkway abruptly turned into a dirt-track and the river railings were replaced with a 3-inch low concrete block. The surrounding scenery was taken over by deserted factories, empty warehouses and stinking, rotting wooden piers. We were literally sitting ducks – loaded with cash and bags – no one would know if we were tied to a stone and thrown into the river. That Thames was the cleanest river in Western Europe (as proclaimed by a banner that we had crossed), was some saving grace..! As the path narrowed, got darker, smellier and more eerie, we quickened our pace. We walked at almost running speed for nearly 30 mins till we sighted the other end of the path. All in all, we walked a full 6 miles in over 60 mins with the beauty lost on us for most of the way.
We caught the 5:30 pm ferry back to Westminster. An overcast sky, a cool breeze and the calming sound of mild waves was the best part of the adventure – very rejuvenating. From Westminster we made our way to the Pret joint at Trafalgar square – it was time for another refill. I ducked into a spicy Felafel wrap along with a love bar and pomegranate juice – there’s something about the Pret-a-Manger chain that others like AMT and Eat cannot match – maybe it’s the variety, maybe more.
At 8pm we met Vicky at the London Bridge station. He took us to the famous Angus pub that Shakespeare used to frequent on his visits to London. A couple of rounds of ale by the waterfront was a great way to unwind. For dinner, we stepped into the Wagamama Japanese restaurant. I ordered yasai katsu curry along with sake – the traditional rice beer. It was the best Japanese dish I’ve ever had – Japanese food is now on my favourite list along with Italian & Lebanese.
At 11:30pm we once again strode down the river side and crossed the Millenium bridge that spans the river. It was amazing to find the city still alive at that hour – joggers with their iPods and in some cases their dogs, officegoers who stayed out for a late night bash and a few families were in full force at the waterfront.
We ended the 19 hour marathon day back at Trentham court in North Acton. Sleep engulfed me even before I could think about it…
