London Eye, 12/07

Warning: This trip report is only MARGINALLY coaster-related, but hey, it's the off-season, and the report IS about a ride... If your sensibilities are offended by tangential content, skip now.

So cheap airfare leads to mileage runs. Mileage runs leads to things like weekend trips to London. A weekend trip to London by a coaster enthusiast suffering "offseason withdrawal" leads to....the British Airways London Eye.

We lucked out on our trip, as typical London weather would have precluded actually SEEING the sun ;) We were in London 3 days (plus travel days), and there was nary a drop of rain to be seen.

We'd scheduled a 3:30pm "flight", intending to time our ride with the London sunset. We ended up running a bit late, but as it turned out this wasn't a major issue. We had a problem picking up our reserved tickets at the ticket machine (all I was supposed to have to do was swipe my credit card and it would print out the tickets purchased with that card, but it was unable to find our reservation). A quick stopover at the Reservations desk fixed that problem, and we were soon in the loading "queue". The line looked rather long, but it was quick and efficient, and our wait ended up being only about 5 minutes (if Tussauds runs all their attractions this well, their parks must be a real pleasure -- I'll find out next summer).

So what of the Eye itself? This observation wheel is an impressive feat of engineering. The thing is just MASSIVE. Each "pod" has a capacity of 20 riders, and offers incredible visibility. The wheel is actually built over the Thames River, and offers an incredible view of such notable landmarks as Big Ben. I've gotten a few pictures up here.

Overall, I HIGHLY recommend that anyone who finds themselves in London check out the Eye. It may not be a coaster, but it's very worthwhile. Sure, it's a touristy thing to do, but isn't that what many of us would be in London for in the first place?

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--Greg
"Beat the rush, sign up for your post-Mean Streak MRI now..."
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Beautiful picts there, Greg! I love the sunset one with the orange gleeming off the building.

That's a funny coincidence, our ride on the London Eye was at sunset too! Good pictures, I especially like the one of the Houses of Parliment (sp)?

I also had know idea Tussauds ran it. Thanks for the information.
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GO CU! Big 12 Champs!