United Kingdom Archives ⋆ Page 6 of 14 ⋆ The Passenger

April 25, 2019May 30, 2019

The DLR

Already in Roman times the city of London, United Kingdom had important harbours within the city and at Southwark. Over time the importance grew and more space was needed. In the east of the city along river Thames a large area became dedicated for loading and unloading goods: the Docklands. It is no official name and the area includes parts of the city quarters Greenwich, Lewisham, Newham, Southwark and Tower Hamlets. With the rise of containerization and container ships the docks of London became too small and had all to be closed in the end of the 20th century.

April 25, 2019April 19, 2022

Under the Thames

The river Thames is not a small one while it is passing through London, United Kingdom. I crossed it many, many times on bridges and within (underground) trains. But there is also the possibility to walk through under it at one point: the Greenwich foot tunnel. It connects the Isle of Dogs north of the river with Greenwich – the entrance is close to the Cutty Sark. Construction works started in 1899 and the tunnel was opened in 1902. The purpose was to bring the workers in a fast and reliable way to the docks.

April 25, 2019May 30, 2019

Prime Meridian

To refer to a specific place on the planet a coordinate system is needed. We’re using longitude (west/east) and latitude (north/south) to tell where we are. The latitude is 0 on the equator but for longitude a position for 0 – the prime meridian – had to be defined. On a conference in Washington, United States different alternatives were analysed and it was defined that the prime meridian should be the one going through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, London (as it was used most often by that time).

April 25, 2019April 19, 2022

Greenwich

After some days between skyscrapers and tightly packed houses in the city of London, United Kingdom you might feel the necessity for a little change. The city quarter Greenwich is no insider tip as everybody goes there for the Royal Observatory – but you should consider it, even if it is only for a walk in the evening. Just take the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) from Bank and exit at Maritime Greenwich. After some meters you’re standing at the shore of river Thames.

April 25, 2019April 30, 2019

Cutty Sark

I can’t go to London, England without visiting the river Thames. Even if I’m just on a short business trip I have to walk through the city to get to the water. Sometimes I just walk along the river from the Millennium Bridge to the Tower Bridge or from Embankment to Westminister. Sometimes I like to have a beer on the water at Tamesis Dock. Another wonderful place with good views is the Greenwich Pier where you can also admire the Cutty Sark.

April 23, 2019April 30, 2019

Whitehall Gardens

After watching the movie ‘Notting Hill‘ with Hugh Grant (‘Whoopsidaisies!‘) and Julia Roberts (‘Can I stay for a while?‘) we all know that there are numerous small gardens throughout London, England – some private, some available to the public. One of the latter is located near the river Thames between Embankment and Westminister. If you can distract your eyes from the river and London Eye and walk on the other side of the street you can find Whitehall Gardens.

April 23, 2019April 28, 2019

Honest Burgers

If you are in need of a good burger at London, England then Honest Burgers is a good choice. In fact it’s a burger restaurant chain with different restaurants throughout the United Kingdom (London, Reading, Bristol, Cambridge, Brighton and Manchester). They know well where the served meat comes from, they offer vegan options and chips as well as their sauces are home-made.

April 20, 2019June 24, 2023

Soccer abroad

If you’re a real soccer aficionado you’ll have to watch the games also while on the road. Unless you fell in love with the really big clubs in the world this is sometimes pretty hard. As a fan of the SV Werder Bremen I’ll sometimes have to search a little bit more until I find a bar that shows Bundesliga and the matches of my club. But it is always worth the the effort – watching German soccer in another country is always fun.

February 21, 2019November 30, 2022

Mercato Metropolitano

The Mercato Metropolitano is a wonderful food court at Elephant & Castle, London. You can sit inside or outside and get drinks and food from numerous small shops. From burgers via Spätzle and burritos to gyoza. Everything that your heart might desire – and as a surplus they claim to be sustainable.

February 21, 2019February 22, 2019

Diagon Alley

Readers of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series know the Diagon Alley as a narrow and dark road full of shops in London, England where you can buy all kinds of supplies for wizards. By the way: German readers miss this wonderful pun as it is just called Winkelgasse in the translated books. Nevertheless, the inspiration for this fictional place was Leadenhall market between Monument and Liverpool Street.