Art and Mary's Travel Blog: May 2013

We had an hour delay getting out of JFK Wednesday night but the flight itself was uneventful. We arrived on Thursday morning about a half hour late. It was lovely to have Priscilla waiting at customs for us. Priscilla gave us a bit of a tour of London on the way from the airport.

On our way out of the terminal, we picked up a micro chip from a vending machine for the iPad Mini, only to remember too late that we needed a nano chip. There were instructions on the web and to our great relief Art was able to trim it down to size at Peter and Priscilla's.

On the way to Priscilla's house, we stopped at Gail's Artisan Bakery, a wonderful bakery in Dulwich and started our vacation eating extravaganza, and then continued with a lovely lunch featuring grilled asparagus, lentils and polenta at Priscilla's.

Late in the afternoon we strolled through Greenwich Park and and down the hill though the grounds of the Old Royal Naval College. Greenwich is a port town where many of the buildings have had multiple occupants over the centuries - naval hospital, country home for kings and queens (commissioned by Anne of Denmark, wife of James I, in the early 1600's), naval college, maritime museum, university with a renowned music school. We stood at the meridian for GMT, wondered down to the river and explored the park and surrounding area.

Pricilla told us it is now possible - due to the erosion caused by the speeding boats on the Thames - to find roman coins in the mud at low tide. We thought about digging in the muck for treasure but not for long. Even in the chilly English spring, it was wonderful to be outside.

Then back to Peter and Priscilla's for a delicious dinner of pasta with roasted vegetables and arugula.

It was a great first day.

At the meridian