A Sunday Morning in Greenwich

My in-laws arrived from South Africa on Saturday and yesterday morning we went to Greenwich.  I usually take visitors straight to Greenwich Park which is one of my favourite places in London but we’d already all gone there together in 2008 so this time we decided to go into Greenwich Town Centre.  We started off by having breakfast at Wetherspoon’s The Gate Clock and I’d really recommend Wetherspoon pubs if you are looking for an inexpensive eating experience in London.  Breakfasts range from £1.49 for a bacon roll and cup of tea or coffee but we usually have their traditional breakfast with bacon, egg, sausage and beans.   I do love my cooked breakfasts!

Following breakfast we went for coffee at Starbucks and I bumped into Jon and Jennifer.  With 8 million people living in Greater London and who knows how many more visitors, it is so random that you could bump into anyone!!  I met Jon and Jennifer on the evening I went for the Sunset Flight on the London Eye and Jon was one of the prize winners.  It was nice to see them and they gave us a couple of tips on what to do in Greenwich.

Greenwich Market 02

After coffee, we went along to Greenwich Market on Jon and Jennifer’s recommendation.

Greenwich Market 03Greenwich Market 01

Greenwich Market is one of the nicest markets I have visited in years.  The first part is a food court and the food was absolutely mouth watering!  There was food from many different corners of the world including Poland, Spain and local delicacies too.  From what I could understand, the food section is under threat and the owners of the market want to reduce the food stalls from 12 to 6 to make way for more arts and craft stalls.  You can sign a petition to save the food market.

Greenwich Market 04

I really enjoyed the arts and crafts section of the market.  South African markets have a very definite focus on African and ethnic items so it was lovely to see a more cottage-like or retro look in this market.  Don’t get me wrong, I love South African markets but I liked seeing all the unique items in this market.

Greenwich Market 10Greenwich Market 05  Greenwich Market 09Greenwich Market 06

Stephen saw me looking with great interest at the Steam Punk outfits above and asked if I would fit into them.  How sweet.  The man obviously has no idea of how big I really am as those dresses would not make it past my shoulders or my knees.  Still, they are rather gorgeous and I would have loved to wear something like that 15 years ago.

Mr Simms Olde Sweet Shoppe

After the market, we took a walk through the streets of Greenwich.  I loved the look of this old sweet shop and it was next to Gourmet Burger Kitchen which I wrote about two years ago.  GBK still do the best burgers on Earth and you can often find 2-for-1 specials if you search on Google.

Greenwich town centreGreenwich town centre

We bumped into the Pearly Kings and Queens of St Pancras which I thought was all very exciting as we had just seen one of the Pearly Kings on television the night before.

Pearly Kings and Queens of St Pancras

Only in England…

Lewin Gate - Old Royal Naval College GreenwichGreenwich Foot TunnelGreenwich Foot TunnelCanary Wharf 

We walked down to the piers as we were going to take a boat ride on the Thames.  It will be quite pretty there once they have finished working on the Cutty Sark but it looks like a building site at the moment!  They do have Lewin Gate in front of the Old Royal Naval College which is a lovely little garden.  That is where  I took the photo of the monument above. The domed structure is the entrance to the Greenwich Foot Tunnel.  I had never even heard of the foot tunnel before but Jon showed me a photo of it and you can walk under the Thames and come out just in front of Canary Wharf!!  I really wanted to take the walk but my in-laws and Stephen weren’t so I shall have to do that some other time.

I shall have to tell you all about our boat ride on the Thames next time!

22 comments on "A Sunday Morning in Greenwich"
  1. I haven't made it to greenwich yet (Jubilee line has always been down when I wanted to). However maybe I should kick myself over there sometime soon!

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  2. Greenwich is absolutely marvellous! You just pulled on great memories, Emm.
    Most definitely something I needed to see today.
    You know I am an Anglophile!!
    Lovely photos as usual!!

    Hope you have a nice week ahead!
    B xx

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  3. And thank you so much for your wonderful comments on my blog.
    It really means a lot!
    B xx

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  4. There are many great things to do in Greenwich...and the foot tunnel sure is a cool thing to do, it only takes 15 minutes max to reach the other side and the views back over the river are pretty good...

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  5. I spend way to much money on food whenever I visit that market - it's as lethal as Borough! Funnily enough London is Cool covered the foot tunnel today - what a coincidink :)

    My favourite recollection is coming across quite a slight young lady next to the DLR station hanging onto a dog that was the colour and size of a wookie - incredible, and to this day I don't know what breed it was!

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  6. I can't believe they want to cut down the number of food stalls in favour of arts and crafts! Surely people buy more foodstuffs than crafts? I adore going into markets but it's the food stall I like best, usually.

    There's obviously more to Greenwich than meets the eye. I want to visit but until seeing this my aim was mainly for the Observatory and the Cutty Sark.

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  7. Hi Emm,
    tks for your review on my blog! I also love Greenwich, great photos!

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  8. Wow.... so fun and beautiful..and super-charming..wish i was there!! Gorgeous post!!
    Your rock Emm!

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  9. It's sad they're trying to shut some of those food stalls down. I'm gonna take a trip to Greenwich market soon, it looks great Emm :)

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  10. One day I'm going to get there. Thanks for updating with a ton of great photographs Emm! I love your insight into the world around you!

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  11. Brought back pleasant memories... :-)

    I've been to Greenwich to see the meridian, plus went to the Thame side as well although didnt take the cruise back.
    Cutty Sark is STILL under contruction??? It was the same 2 years back as well! Sheesh! Thats some massive reformation work, I say!

    Havent visited Greenwich market...though I wish I had!

    We had lunch at a cute little Chinese place before returning.

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  12. I love all of the pictures, but especially the one of the "Pearly Kings and Queens", the link is interesting too :)

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  13. One of my favourite first memories of our early days in England was an afternoon in Greenwich. It was a lovely, lovely day :-)

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  14. godh... soooo lovely & dainty town. thats it! my next trip there, am definitely pay a visit here. i love parks too :D

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  15. Haha, i love the car and the old man.. :-)

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  16. @ Annuca: Actually, if you're going to Greenwich, you want to catch the DLR or the mainline train to Greenwich. The Jubilee line will take you to the O2 which is nowhere near Greenwich town centre!

    @ Betty: Thank you! I am sending you an email!

    @ William: I know! I saw your gorgeous photos of the tunnel. They really make me want to go down it!

    @ The Londoneer: I don't want to say this too loudly but I think I might prefer this market to Borough Food Market! I know, what a coincidence that we were both in Greenwich! Although I have to be honest, I think the posts on London is Cool last week probably made me want to go to Greenwich!!

    @ Sheila: I totally agree about the food stalls. Unfortunately, the Cutty Sark is completely covered in scaffolding so you might want to delay your visit for a while. Or go more than once!

    @ Ana: Thank you!

    @ Kiki: You rock too girl!

    @ Gemma: Oh goodie! I look forward to hearing about it.

    @ Phoenix: And I hope you'll allow me the honour of being your tour guide when you do arrive! I have two spare rooms by the way, hint hint.

    @ Ash: Yes, Ash!!!!! It is still under construction!!

    @ Paul: Thank you! I'm not nearly on your level yet but hope to get closer in time!

    @ JaPRA: I think Greenwich is the perfect place to start a long-term relationship with England!

    @ Lily: I would certainly recommend it and Greenwich Park is amazing too.

    @ Nnika: Isn't he lovely??

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  17. Looks like a fabulous day out and about with family!

    KK
    http://preppypinkcrocodile.blogspot.com

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  18. Greenwich was on my 50K route a couple of years ago - could have done without the hill!! You have given us a really lovely travelogue and I only live 10 miles away!!

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  19. just trying the "name/url" hint thingy...

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  20. I like your Sunday morning trip. Yummy, interesting and much much coincident. What a casual weekend!

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  21. @ Preppy: Yes, it was a good morning and just the start of an exciting day!

    @ Revivor: Good for you for figuring out the Name/URL thingy!

    @ Ellen: It was laid back and lovely!

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  22. This post makes me miss London loads! Used to live there and now am based in Stockholm. Great photos that make me want to jump a plane just for the London Sunday markets. I went to Borough Market last time I was there. Keep up the great work!

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