Greenwich (That's pronounced Gren-itch), England

Phil and I flew from Milan to London on Monday night. My first impression of our apartment in London? Very Ikea-ish. Not quite the spectacle of our Sydney place but a close second. It has a teeny balcony (not quite enough room for a chair, but you could stand out there) off of the living room overlooking the Thames River as well as the venue where Michael Jackson would've been doing his 50-event London tour this fall. The apartment's other claim to fame? The washing machine (oddly in the kitchen by the oven) is also the dryer. Yes, you add detergent, put your clothes in, and then after going through the wash cycle it will also dry them. How? No idea, but very intrigued by the whole thing.

Once again Phil walked me around so I could find his office building the next day when I was on my own. A bit confusing. We walked over the suspension bridge, in the lobby of one building, down the escalator, into an underground mall, down another escalator, into the Canary Wharf stop of the tube (English-speak for subway) up another escalator, into another mall (where we stopped for a late dinner at Wagamama- a noodle place. See I'm branching out. I've discovered I like dumplings.), down another escalator, up another escalator, into an office building, round the corner, up another escalator into the lobby of his building. Seriously...did he really believe I'd remember all that for the next day?

But, amazingly enough (has the Amazing Race dream just been re-planted?), I managed the whole route the next day and met him for lunch in the cafeteria of his office's building. And yes, just ham and swiss on the whole grain bread. No, I don't want mayonaise. Nope, no lettuce or mustard. Certainly no on the cucumbers. Just ham and cheese.

After leaving Phil to slave away at work, I hopped on the DLR (which stands for Docklands Light Rail-basically the above ground subway) and headed towards Greenwich. Great little town.

I headed over to the Royal Observatory. It was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1675 "for the purpose of finding longitude at sea." Here's a view of the Observatory in Greenwich Park (which, for all you Olympic fans (Karen) will be site of all the equestrian events in the 2012 London Olympics.) The little red ball at the top of the tower is the Time-Ball which is one of the world's earliest public time signals. (Yes, I'm copying this from my brochure.) It continues to fall at 13:00 every day.

And let me tell you...that is a serious hike up to the Observatory. A closer look...

And just what is that crowd of people on the other side of the gate? They are all clamoring to get their picture on the Prime Meridian. Yes...I did the same cheesy thing and below is me with one foot in the Western Hemisphere and the other in the Eastern Hemisphere.

What? You don't believe that little line is the Prime Meridian? No, really it is. But you're right...a bit anti-climatic.

The view was great at the top of the hill. See the cluster of buildings on the right? That's where Phil was right at that moment slaving away at work. Stinks to be him.

The building right in front is the Old Royal Naval College which I toured as soon as I headed back down the hill. And after that, I took in the National Maritime Museum, a short walk away. Pretty good.

After getting back on the DLR, I met Phil for dinner at an Argentinian beef place called Gaucho. Mmm...beef. Then it was to bed (because yes, another late dinner) because I had places to go in the morning. Tomorrow...London.