Greenwich, England: Prime Meridian

Welcome to Greenwich, a small part of Londo, that has an outsized amount of fame - thanks to an imaginary line called the Prime Meridian. 

Why there? Mostly because Greenwich got there first, and did it better than others. 

Let's ovesimply the story. Figuring out the time wasn't particularly easy to do on land, but it was much harder when done on a boat in the oceans. Scientists soon figured out that the location of the stars in the sky could be helpful. However, a reference point of longitude was needed. England's major observatory was in Greenwich, located on top of a hill overlooking the small town below. Workers took a look at a globe and decided the north-south line should go right through Greenwich. After all, it was their decision. However, other countries did the same thing, which was rather confusing. 

But Greenwich was ahead of the world in technology, and many of its charts had become the standard. So when many nations gathered in 1884 to draw the lines formally, Greenwich was a natural choice to be selected. It's been set there every since. (Paris was a holdout for a few decades, but came around eventually.)

The fun part about a visit is that you can stand on both sides of the Meridian, and thus be in both the Eastern and Western Hemisphere at the same time. And tourists flock to the Observatory, mostly to do exactly that.   

The Observatory has a rich history. Edmund Halley, he of Comet fame, worked there in the 1700s. So did William Herschel, who discovered Uranus in 1781. Part of an old telescope of his welcomes you at the entrance. There's some other historical items on display on the subjects of time and navigation. 

But it's still a place to stand in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres at the same time, where the line was first drawn. That's rather impressive. 

(Footnote: There's only one country in which you could be in four hemispheres at once: Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean. The other crossing is south and west of Africa in the ocean.)

London, England: National Gallery

You can't beat the location of the National Gallery. Or the price.

This art museum is located right on Trafalgar Square, one of the places where London's heartbeat is the loudest. The facility has been around since 1824, and it has 2,300 paintings that date from the 1200s to 1900. In other words, they don't have to add newly created works constantly. 

The English government went into the business of art collecting about 200 years ago, and its level of activity grew over the years. After buying some works and being gifted with others, it was decided a building was needed to house them. A museum opened in 1824 for that purpose, but it ran out of space and a bigger facility was needed. That one was completed in 1838. It still stands today, although there have been many changes and additions over the years. 

Around 1900, some rich British families had to sell their artwork during an agriculture crisis. However, members of the American upper class bought up many of those works. A fund was soon established to keep the pieces on home shores. When World War II came along, everything was shipped out of London. There had been talk about moving the artwork to safe keeping in Canada, but Winston Churchill insisted that these historic paintings not leave the Motherland. When the war ended, the National Gallery was back in business. It still is today.

As for the price, it's free. Can't beat that.

London, England: Hampton Court Palace

It's easy to guess that the size of a Monarch's home had a correlation to the size of his ego. If that's the case, Henry VIII must have had quite an ego.

Welcome to the Hampton Court Palace, which was the King's favorite place back in the 1500s. The story actually starts in 1514, when Cardinal Thomas Wolsey started construction of the palace. About 15 years later, Wolsey and Henry weren't getting along too well, and the Cardinal thought his days were numbered. Therefore, he gave the King the Palace in an attempt to stay alive. Henry liked the building so much that he couldn't wait to expand it. As we can see now, it's mighty big by any standard. George II was the last king to live there.

There are all sorts of buildings to explore, including apartments, the kitchens, a great hall, a working chapel, etc. Son William III had a nice corner part of the complex to himself. There are many items and pieces of art scattered about the place, so it's quite a walk through history.  

If the building weren't enough, the grounds might be even better. Gardens cover many acres surrounding the palace, and all are fit for a King. There's even a maze and a tennis court for recreation.

The video gives a better idea of what a visit is like. 

London, England: Guards Memorial

There's nothing like a good-sized statue to draw in a tourist, and this one certainly qualifies in terms of scope. The name, at least, probably is a bit too modest under the circumstances.

The Guards Memorial pays tribute to the Guards Division, which was an infantry unit that was formed in World War I to fight in France. The group stayed on the Western Front throughout the course of the war. 

Rudyard Kipling wrote the inscription; he had a son die in the war in 1915: "To the Glory of God // And in the memory of the // Officers Warrant Officers // Non Commissioned Officers & // Guardsmen of His Majesty's // Regiments of Foot Guards // who gave their lives for their // King and Country during the // Great War 1914–1918 and of the // Officers Warrant Officers // Non-Commissioned Officers and // Men of the Household Cavalry // Royal Regiment of Artillery // Corps of Royal Engineers // Royal Army Service Corps Royal // Medical Corps and other // Units who while serving the // Guards Division in France & // Belgium 1915–1918 fell with them in // the fight for the World's Freedom."  

London, England: Churchill War Rooms

It's not easy to run a military operation in the middle of a World War II, especially when the other side has been known to bomb your area. Ask Winston Churchill in 1940, when the Germans were in the midst of an aerial blitz of the city of London.

The answer to that program came in the form of the construction of a bunker. The government leaders knew that such a plan might be necessary by 1936, even if it had never been done before. They figured out how to do it by 1938, and had a series of rooms ready for business that were located deep under the treasury building and reinforced to protect it from harm from above. And the area opened for business in August 1939, a mere week before the Germans crossed the Polish border to start the war. 

The complex was operational for about six years. They closed it up once Japan had surrendered in August of 1945. It was not a comfortable place. Sleeping quarters needed to be provided for times when it wasn't safe to return to homes, and apparently the plumbing areas weren't too fragrant. But it served its purpose nicely. 

Great Britain had other things to worry about after the war besides an old bunker, so it sat there for a while. By 1948, people started to wonder if there was some historical value in the place. Some tours were given over the next several years, but it wasn't exactly open to the public. Margaret Thatcher eventually made it a priority to turn the complex into a museum. It opened in 1984 with a ceremony that featured the Churchill family. 

Hundreds of thousands turn out every year to see the facility. (It's a good idea to get tickets in advance.) One of the sights is shown here, a room for the top officials to meet and discuss strategy. Churchill stood at the head of the table.