London & Greenwich England: View from the Water

Article and photographs by Tony Chisholm

It was time to travel again. After Covid, I had put off flying anywhere until this decision to travel to the UK to visit my daughter. Both of us had had a bout of cancer in 2024 and both of us had been promptly treated and recovered. What better reason to get together to celebrate our successful recoveries?

First, I learned you had to get an ETA approval to enter the UK.  I was coming from Canada, but it is also required for US travelers. This is not a visa, but similar in some ways and your approval lasts up to 2 years. The application required a lot of personal information and a weird session where you put your cell phone on the passport so the information on the chip in the passport can be loaded into the ETA application and in reverse, the application and approval is loaded back into your passport. Spooky, but it worked. When I arrived in the UK, I didn’t have to meet a border guard at Heathrow but merely placed my passport face down on a reader and the gate opened to let me into the country. I liked that part.

I knew the trip would go well when the owner of the apartment I rented for 6 days offered to send her husband to pick me up… bonus! That was so helpful. The beautiful apartment was in Chelsea, within walking distance of Chelsea Harbour on the Thames River.

Bonus #2. It turns out the “Uber” boat on the Thames stopped in Chelsea Harbour on its way east into the city and beyond to Greenwich. What an easy and spectacular way to get around the city. The views of the Houses of Parliament, tower bridge, and the London eye were all laid out before us as we cruised by in comfort.

After my daughter arrived and we explored our Chelsea neighborhood, we decided to visit Greenwich on the Uber boat.  Greenwich is a “Royal Borough” inside the city of London and a must-see spot. It has a rich history, groundbreaking architecture, vast parks and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Greenwich of course is the home of the historic Prime Meridian.

In Greenwich we first visited the restored Cutty Sark ship. The Cutty Sark was one of the last great clipper ships that raced around the world for the tea trade in the 19th century. By the 1920’s it was the last of the China tea clippers still afloat. One of the most beautiful sailing ships ever built and the fastest of its time. It was eventually saved from the brink of collapse and restored with donations from around the world and was now on dry land preserved in Greenwich for all to see.

Then it was off to the Maritime Museum, and we could have spent an entire day there. Its seafaring collections are unequalled and includes the world’s finest collection of artifacts and original paintings on the Royal Navy from the era of sail. It was so interesting that we ran out of time to see the striking Queens House that dates from the 1600’s and the beautiful Greenwich Park created in 1433. We also missed the Royal Observatory, and the spectacular Royal Naval College. All are within easy walking distance. Promise to myself: I must come back another day.

Although Greenwich was a highlight of our trip, we made a point of using the Uber boat daily to get to other attractions like the restored Globe Theatre, and the Houses of Parliament. We visited lots of museums in London and I was impressed that they offered free admission. It was good to have this cost saving as London can be a very expensive place to visit.

We were most impressed with the displays at the Victoria and Albert Museum which featured an extensive collection of medieval art. Where else could you find an original medieval door that was 700 years old? (How can a wooden door last that long?) Another great find was the Imperial War Museum that had whole floors dedicated to the two world wars that fascinated us for hours. We learned so much.

The trip was successful and despite traveling in February, the weather was perfect.

If planning a trip to London, don’t miss traveling on the Uber boat and visiting Greenwich and the amazing London museums.