It's a fool's errand to try and see everything Greenwich has in one day, so naturally I had to give it a shot. I got there via the Thames Clipper River Bus, which has the added bonus of seeing bridges like Blackfriars and Tower Bridge from low down, and grabbed a coffee from the Starbucks which is surprisingly well-integrated into the street's aesthetic for a morning dander around the Naval College grounds until things began to open (it's worth getting there before attractions start opening at 10am to appreciate the exteriors at your leisure.) The first destination was the Chapel of St Peter and St Paul, which has lovely blue highlighting against the more standard cream-coloured walls. There's a Choral Evensong there after everything has closed that could be worth visiting but, alas, my flight was that night so I couldn't see it for myself. After that I went to the Painted Hall. They have quiet hours on Fridays which allowed me to enter at 10:15am, an essential piece in getting this schedule to work. I admittedly didn't click with it quite as much as other people, probably because of how hagiographic it is. King Billy aside, there are still plenty of highlights there, for myself the inclusion of Wren's own blueprints, the four women along the edges of the Upper Hall's ceiling who each represent a different continent (including a fascinating pseudo-depiction of a Native American), and the archway with golden representations of the North Hemisphere's six zodiac signs. There's a skittle alley nearby which was sadly closed for reasons unknown when I visited.

I went straight from there to the Cutty Sark. The interior exhibit of this is very much child friendly and is a breeze to get through, even if you stop to play the little navigation video game as I did. The top deck is a lot more authentic feeling and offers up some nice views of the surrounding area. Following a packed itinerary like this, the cafe is a good time to grab a coffee and look both up at the Cutty Sark's hull and over to the cute little exhibit of figureheads that's placed off to one side for reasons unknown. After that I took a slow dander up to the passageway between the Queen's House and the National Maritime Museum. There's a bench pointed towards the observatory which gives a clear view of the red ball dropping (see the photo). It's obviously much further away than trudging up the hill would be, but frankly, it's a big orb falling a few feet - you don't need front row seats! Right after I went over to the Queen's House. The Great Hall is decorated with gold birdlike patterns which are striking against the light, an addition as recent as 2016! The famous Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I captivated me with its intricacies and the illusion of texture. Not to be missed also is the small assemblage of John Everett's stylised paintings of boats. Time caught up to me here and I had to rush through the tail end (including not having as much time to appreciate the famous spiral staircase as I'd liked), so I would recommend bringing a packed lunch to avoid that happen to anyone else who's trying to see as much of the place as they can.

After a quick meal in the Maritime Museum's cafe I made my way up to the Royal Observatory. I had a 3pm booking for the planetarium show, and after having to hustle uphill, appreciated the seat as much as I did the actual presentation. By no means is it essential to a visit, but it breaks up the museum visits quite nicely. Afterwards was around to the observatory itself. This is obviously a very storied building and there's no shortage of historical artefacts crammed into a space not designed for it, not too much of a problem until you run into a guided tour. Still, this was my favourite spot, especially the octagon room designed by Christopher Wren with several different timepieces embedded into the wood panelling by the doors. Make sure to go up to the Great Equatorial Telescope via the staircase in the gift shop, it has a small extension to the museum with more general timepieces from around the world and a brief outside passage with a great view of Flamsteed House's roof above the garden. By then it was nearing 5pm, everything was closing, and I had a flight to make, so I picked my backpack up from a Stasher place and left via the Docklands Light Railway - a very cute little piece of rolling stock and some good views of the docks which weave between the buildings at Isle of Dogs and Canary Wharf. All in all this itinerary worked pretty well to track the history of Greenwich, even if I had to give the Maritime Museum a miss.