I can’t help wondering what will happen if one of those flimsy little spokes snap. I mean, look at them – they look like wire coat-hangars. Are we 100% sure that the builders knew what they were doing?
Normally I’d buy my ticket online because I know how huge the queues can be, but I’ve decided to buy one at the gate today so I can describe it. First of all you have to queue up through a snake of ropes inside the ticket office (that took me 25 minutes), then you have to join the actual queue outside (15 minutes so far), and it’s during this second phase that I’m starting to feel like a mountaineer assembling at base camp.
Photo: londondrum.comAll the different nationalities are standing around me laughing and joking and snapping pictures of the summit and I can almost kid myself that I’m having fun. The wheel is turning at a nice sedentary rate above my head and no one is banging on the windows screaming to get out. So it seems safe. But when I look into my neighbours’ eyes I can see their nerves are building. It’s the way they grip the railing that gives the game away… they’re holding on so tight and vice-like that it’s draining all the blood away from their skin. On the outside they’re happily chatting with their buddies but every few seconds they chance a glance upwards, at the mad mountain above them, watching the human-filled glass globules arching over the top like the hot rocks that get spat out the top of a volcano.
Photo: londondrum.com
Photo: londondrum.comStepping inside one of the pods
When you finally enter the pod you’ll probably have about twenty tourists crowding around the windows, running around, sitting down, standing up, leaning on the glass (I wish they would keep still!). The adults will start claiming some space by a window whilst their kids bounce around shouting “look at that! look at that!”
Photo: londondrum.comNormally I’m dismissive of all those daft health and safety rules but on the London Eye there should definitely be one that says everybody has to sit down and keep completely still because this pod is very definitely wobbling – it’s wobbling enough to feel it. There’s a very slight wobble as it slides along the track, and then every now and they’ll be a much bigger wobble. Don’t ask me why it wobbles because I haven’t got a clue. It’s like turbulence, I suppose. Or maybe one of the nuts has fallen off, or one of the main chains has snapped – I don’t know. But you soon settle down and start aiming your camera out the window.
View of the landmarks from the London Eye
Photo: londondrum.comThe first five minutes just lifts you above the river so you can see the people on Hungerford Bridge and the traffic on Waterloo Bridge. Once you’ve risen above the rooftops you can look down on Horse Guards Parade and see Buckingham Palace nestling beyond the trees of St. James’s Park.
Photo: londondrum.comSee if you can spot the top of Nelson’s Column for a bonus point. If you can spot the top of The Monument then you’re doing well.
Photo: londondrum.comIf I’m being totally honest then I was expecting the view to be a teensy bit better because the dome of St. Paul’s is just a distant thimble and the Tower of London and Tower Bridge are hidden behind some office blocks.
Photo: londondrum.comIn my mind’s eye I had visions of being able to see all the way to the Thames Barrier. I wanted to see the White Cliffs of Dover. I wanted to see the coast of France. I wanted to look back through time to the day I was born. Considering that you can see all the way to the moon just by looking up, I thought we’d be able to see a little bit further than the Circle Line.
View of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament
Photo: londondrum.com
Photo: londondrum.comThe wobbling will be at its absolute worst when the pod reaches the top, and I must admit that I didn’t like the feeling at all. I actually had to sit down for a few minutes until we started descending down the other side (but I’m a wuss when it comes to heights). It’s at this point that you can enjoy the finest view of Big Ben and Parliament from anywhere in London.
Here’s an important tip: don’t go when it’s raining because you’re basically standing inside a giant goldfish bowl and rivulets of rainwater will come zig-zagging down the glass and mess up all your photos.
And don’t go when the sun is low in the sky either (like early evening, before it gets dark) because you’ll get a bright haze in your lens that will mess up your shots. The best time to ride it is around lunchtime or early afternoon, when the sun is directly overhead.
If you enjoy this then try Cable Car (travel from Waterloo to North Greenwich via tube); The Shard (walk it in 30 mins or travel from Waterloo to London Bridge via tube) and Sky Garden (travel from Waterloo to Monument via tube). Other places that give a great view of London’s skyline include the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral, the balcony at the top of the The Monument and Westminster Cathedral’s bell tower
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