Welcome to the Old Royal Naval College (ORNC), one of London's most famous landmarks. It is open daily and is a wonderful place to visit — whether you have an hour or a day.

    The buildings and grounds of the ORNC were originally designed as a refuge(避难所)for old and injured sailors in the 1690s. Later the site became a training college for officers in the Royal Navy. Today they are free to visit and host an exciting range of events all year round.

Painted Hall

    View the impressive Painted Hall, known as the greatest piece of decorative painting in England. Sir James Thornhill spent 19 years painting it celebrating the royal family and maritime(海上的) power. Discover more interesting history through our daily talks and family activities.

Chapel(小教堂)

    Redecorated by James“Athenian”Stuart after a fire in 1779, the Chapel reflects Stuart's Greek influences, and is still an active place to show respect and love for God. Besides, it is a perfect place for concerts and recitals(演奏会).

Discover Greenwich

    Explore over 500 years of history and architecture at the Discover Greenwich Visitor Centre. There is an impressive central model of Maritime Greenwich World Heritage (遗产)Site.

Opening times

    Painted Hall, Chapel and Discover Greenwich Visitor Centre open from 10:00 to 17:00, Mon to Sun. (Chapel opens at 12:00 on Sun following service).

Grounds open daily 08:00-18:00.

    A new generation addiction is quickly spreading all over the world. Weboholism, a twentieth century disease, affects people from different ages. They surf the net, use email and speak in chat rooms. They spend many hours on the computer, and it becomes a compulsive habit. They cannot stop, and it affects their lives.

    Ten years ago, no one thought that using computers could become compulsive behavior that could affect the social and physical life of computer users. This obsessional behavior has affected teenagers and college students. They are likely to log on computers and spend long hours at different websites.

    They become hooked on computers and gradually their social and school life is affected by this situation. They spend all free time surfing and don't concentrate on homework, so this addiction influences their grades and success at school. Because they can find everything on the websites, they hang out there. Moreover, this addiction to websites influences their social life.

    They spend more time in front of computers than with their friends. The relation with their friends changes. The virtual life becomes more important than their real life. They have a new language that they speak in the chat rooms and it causes cultural changes in society.

    Because of the change in their behavior, they begin to isolate themselves from the society and live with their virtual friends. They share their emotions and feelings with friends who they have never met in their life. Although they feel confident on the computer, they are not confident with real live friends they have known all their life. It is a problem for the future. This addictive behavior is beginning to affect all the world.

    I grew up poor. We had little money, but plenty of love and attention. I understood that no matter how poor a person was, he could still afford a dream. My dream was athletics.

    By the time I was sixteen, I was good at baseball and football. My high-school coach was Ollie Jarvis. He not only believed in me, but taught me the difference between having a dream and showing conviction(信念).

    One summer a friend recommended me for a summer job. This meant a chance for money in my pocket — cash for dates with girls, certainly, money for a new bike and new clothes, and the start of savings for a house for my mother.

Then I realized I would have to give up summer baseball to handle the work schedule, and that meant I would have to tell Coach Jarvis I wouldn't be playing. I was dreading(害怕) this, but my mother said, "If you make your bed, you have to lie in it."

When I told Coach Jarvis, he was as mad as I expected him to be. "Your playing days are limited. You can't afford to waste them," he said.

    I stood before him with my head hanging, trying to think of the words that would explain to him why I dreamed of buying my mom a house.

"How much are you going to make at this job, son?" he demanded.

"Three twenty-five an hour," I replied.

"Well," he asked, "is $3.25 an hour the price of a dream?"

    That question laid bare for me the difference between wanting something right now and having a goal. I devoted myself to sports that summer, and within the year I was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates to play rookie-league ball, and offered a $20,000 contract. I signed with the Denver Broncos in 1984 for $1.7 million, and bought my mother the house of my dream.

    The flowers are blooming and the birds are singing as Melinda sits in the rose garden of the nursing home. She is recalling old times as she waits for her family's arrival. The nursing home has been Melinda's new settlement ever since Thomas passed away a week ago. Thomas had fought a long and hard battle against lung cancer for three years. Unfortunately, he has broken the promise that he and Melinda had made: to be with each other for every birthday. Melinda knew this was unrealistic (不现实的) but agreed to the promise for Thomas's sake.

    "Thomas, you are completely a dreamerl" Melinda shouted to Thomas as he dragged on about living on an island with his beautiful wife. That's what she loved about him most-he had a vivid imagination. They got married at age eighteen and began having children right away. Mary came within the year, followed by Thomas Benjamin II, Lilly-Ann, and Joseph "Little Joey" George. The family lived an exultant life filled with laughter and love.

    "Mom!" Lilly shouted, but it really sounded like a howl. Melinda had lost herself in thinking about the life she had shared with her late husband. Lilly pushed her down the long dark halls of the nursing home until they arrived at the recreational room.

    When the doors opened, Melinda put her hand over her mouth and was completely speechless. The room was crowded with the people nearest and dearest to her and the warmth and love was felt instantly. The night went on; stories and cocktails were shared and everything was perfect.

    However, when Melinda caught a moment to herself she looked around at her family. With a smile on her face, she raised her Manhattan and called out for a toast. "This one is for you, Thomas, though you are not here."

    It was December 25, 1914, only 5 months into World War I. German, British, and French soldiers, already sick and tired of the senseless killing, disobeyed their superiors and started socializing with "the enemy" along two-thirds of the Western Front.

    German troops held up Christmas trees with signs, "Merry Christmas". Thousands of troops ran across the battlefields covered with dead bodies. They sang Christmas songs, exchanged photographs of loved ones back home, shared food and even played football. Soldiers hugged men they had been trying to kill a few short hours before. They agreed to warn each other if their officers forced them to fire their weapons, and to aim high.

    Fear ran through the military leaders on both sides. They felt that their power was being challenged: soldiers declaring their brotherhood with each other and refusing to fight. Generals declared this unexpected peacemaking illegal and said that participating soldiers would face a military court. Those found guilty would be imprisoned or even shot. By March 1915 the socializing movement had been destroyed and the killing machine was back in full operation. Over the next three years more than fifteen million people died in the war.

    Not many people have heard the story of the Christmas Truce (休战). On Christmas Day, 1988, a local radio host in Boston played "Christmas in the Trenches", a song about the Christmas Truce several times and was stunned by his listeners' response. Thousands of people called in, praising the song, with many moved to tears by the amazing events it described.

    You can probably guess why the callers were in tears. The Christmas Truce story goes against most of what we have been taught about people. It lets us see the world as it can be and says, "This really happened once." It shows us the potential we have as humans contradicts all of those TV and newspaper stories that tell us how mean and heartless people are. It is like hearing that our deepest wishes really are true: the world really can be different.

    Bullgatortail 10 minutes ago

    I particularly enjoy the works of Greenwich Village poet Edward Field, whose interest in cinema led to a number of poems based on old monster movies (including many about Frankenstein and my favorite, Curse of the Cat Woman).

    Litteacher 8 29 minutes ago

    There are so many to choose from! I love Robert Frost, especially "Mending Wall", mostly because he is my dad's favorite poet. However, personally I love Lnagston Hughes's poem "Dreams" because it always brings happiness to me. I am also a big fan of the older poems, such as Spenser's "One Day I Wrote Her Name Upon the Strand" because it is so simple, and "The Tyger" and "The Lamb" by William Blake because I love the language.

    Michael Ugulini 51 minutes ago

    My favorite poet is Suji Kwock Kim. Ever since I read her book of poetry "Notes from the Divided Country", I have been a big fan of her clear and thoughtful writing. My favorite poem of hers is "Borderlands", which she wrote in memory of her grandmother. It is a poem about her grandmother's experiences during the war.

    Loraaa 1 hour ago

    Hard to decide! But if I have to, I'd say Emily Dickinson. Her life was so wonderful and her opinions about life are also interesting. Her understanding of nature speaks to the heart of anyone who loves the outdoors! Dickinson also understood human nature very well. Her poems speak of love, loneliness, ect. Finally, my favorite poem by her is "I Never Saw a Moor". I love her thoughts!