Where East Meets West 7-9-9

Greenwich, England

Perhaps the coolest thing in my uncertain childhood was going to the George Ellery Hale Observatory or the Griffith Park Observatory. On one occasion I even wandered around in mute awe under the dome of what was then the largest telescope in the world - the 200 inch Palomar instrument near San Diego. Astronomy and space sciences had to be the most wondrous inventions of mankind. A kid could really escape from an environment of alcoholism and drug abuse by losing his head in the stars. It was my great fortune to have grown up in southern California where the likes of these great observatories and Jet Propulsion Lab were but short distances from the stucco jungle we inhabited.

I only had a vague idea about sidereal time, Greenwich Mean Time, and the importance of knowing EXACTLY what time it was. Catholics gain their bearings by looking to the Vatican and the dome of St Paul’s Basilica in Rome. Astronomers, physicists, astronauts, and all other true stargazers look to a little town on the Thames River for their bearings. Here people are paid well to know exactly what time it is and where they are. All time and navigational references in the world are oriented to this small town on the Thames where latitude, longitude, and time had their births.

In the quaint picturesque village of Greenwich one finds the stuff of childhood dreams - a magical observatory with huge old brass telescopes on top of fanciful Victorian brick buildings, wondrous mechanical clocks with exotic moving dials, planetariums, astronomy museums, and stores that sell telescopes, mechanical clocks and space art. It was better than anything I had ever seen. One can actually arrive at this town by small boat as the royal astronomers did hundreds of years ago. The one hour journey afforded a commanding overview of the major role the Thames has played in this city for more than one thousand years.

I was in a state of pre-adolescent entrancement the whole of the time I was in Greenwich, especially when on top of the hill at the Royal Observatory where east meets west. A stainless steel plate in the cement demarks the boundary between the eastern and western hemispheres at zero longitude. People were lines up for thirty minutes to get a photo of themselves standing with one foot in each hemisphere. I just crossed over from east to west without waiting. Some things just get lost in the translation. Pictures don’t always work.

What pictures did work for was the former campus of the Royal Naval College located between the observatory and the Thames River. This meticulously manicured campus became available to other educational institutions when the Naval College was moved elsewhere. The Trinity School of Music and other university programs are now ensconced in these august halls. Some of the structures have been retained in their historical state for their great aesthetic values.

Here one can find a couple of imposing treasures, little known on the greater grid of tourist attentions. The so-called Painted Hall is a vast officer’s dining facility that is built in the grandest of classical traditions. Here for centuries naval officers took their meals on great oak trestle tables with large sterling candlesticks providing light. The walls and ceilings are decorated in grand images of maritime conquests. Perhaps best of all was the gracious demeanor of a knowledgeable docent who made me feel like a welcome dinner guest rather than a mere camera-toting tourist collecting images. I almost asked her for her number but thought better of it.

Located across the quad in a nearly identical building is the Royal Naval College Chapel. Here one finds a very quiet meditative ambience with fine music playing and equally gracious docents attending to my curiosity. The interior is decorated with carefully executed ornamental plastering and friezes, and large scale painted images of biblical proportion. I am wondering what it is about being at the junction of East and West that makes people so very hospitable and pleasant to be around. Maybe they have their bearings in life sorted out, since they know exactly where they stand.

For about $10 I was able to take a boat to Greenwich, scamper through the things that make childhood work better for uncertain little boys and meet some of the nicest people in the world. Now that I know where it is and where I am, I will use my GPS next time and plan a longer stay in Greenwich and do some serious star gazing.