An eye over London

I've been promising myself a ride on the London Eye for more than five years. Each time I've visited London I make plans to give it a go but have never seen them through. The Eye is a 135 metre high ferris wheel situated on the bank of Thames River. You climb aboard one of 32 large, glass capsules that slowly ascend into the air affording the most stunning views of inner London. Each capsule holds up to 25 people in air-conditioned comfort, taking approximately 30 minutes to complete a full rotation.

This evening Garry and I took Rachael, my company's global HR director, for 'flight' on the London Eye. Rachael is staying with us for a few days while she is working in the UK. We caught our 'flight' at 8pm - just in time to watch the sun set over the city (well, Wembley stadium actually).

Our 'flight' almost didn't happen thanks to a tube delay caused by the heatwave we've been experiencing this week. The temperature reached 27C at Heathrow yesterday. This "intense heat" buckles the rails forcing trains to travel slower than usual to avoid derailing. There was a huge debate in the paper today about this issue as the unions claim that the problem is caused by poor maintenance rather than heat.

Given that we experience temperatures in the 30s for months on end in Sydney I tend to agree with the unions. However I digress. Thanks to the tube delays we found ourselves racing for the ticket office to collect our tickets moments before the Eye closed for the night.

The last minute dash was worth it as the view from the Eye was truly spectacular. The Houses of Parliament were literally glowing in the evening sun, as was the dome of St Pauls cathedral. We even spotted where our house is located once Garry had identified a few neighbourhood landmarks.

An brief argument ensued at this point as I was convinced that we couldn't actually see the Eye from our house. Garry assured me that we could (and subsequently went on to prove his claim when we got home). For the record; we can see the wheel from our bedroom window. It's particularly noticable when lit up after dark.

From the Eye we wandered into town across the Westminster Bridge, past Big Ben and along the river embankment to Covent Garden. We stopped for dinner at Navajo Joe's, a mexican style gastro pub. Our first dish was particularly divine; lobster and mango nachos served on three niffy mini platters. The Vodka Caprioskas were also rather tasty. All in all, a most enjoyable evening.

Digital history in the making
This posting marks another digital first for me. The photos you see here were all taken with the camera on my mobile phone. I've finally worked out how to download these images. I guess I have access to a camera now wherever I go.