WorldTravelReynolds

The capsules to ride in look like an eye

The trip to London is about 1 hour by train. Just for fun, we took the bus straight through. Had to make one bus change. It only saved us about 2 GBP/$2.43 and it took 2 hours so we’ll stick to the train. Much faster and not much more!

Our goal this day was to see Princess Diana’s memorial fountain. I don’t want to say I was disappointed rather it wasn’t what I expected.

This unique memorial to Diana, Princess of Wales was opened by Her Majesty The Queen on July 6, 2004.

I guess if you look at it from her point of view, it was perfect. The memorial was designed to express her spirit and love of children. 

Many children were playing in the fountain and as you look at the water dancing around the curves of the Cornish granite you can imagine the smile on Princess Diana’s face as the children are frolicking and playing around it.

The video is the entire memorial. it was a large oblong design where the water flowed in both directions.

Our next stop was Big Ben and then the Coca Cola Eye. I love large steam clocks and although Big Ben wasn’t steam, it was huge.

Elizabeth Tower, previously called the Clock Tower but more popularly known as Big Ben, was raised after the old Palace of Westminster was largely destroyed by fire in 1834. (This view was taken while riding “The Eye”)

We were all excited about finally finding it but I didn’t see it. We were standing over the Thames river so I knew it had to be there staring me in the face.

Sadly for us, Big Ben was behind all the scaffolding from construction.

Chuck looked up something on the web and he said, I hate to disappoint you but thats Big Ben over there all covered up for reconstruction until 2021. Bummer! We walked around it to view its massive size but could’nt see anything but construction. We were able to see the face from the ride on the Eye. Just beside the clock are the Houses of Parliament. We will go back another day to view the inside. 

We moved across the river to ride the huge ferris wheel called The Coca Cola Eye. It was HUGE!

Huge Ferris/Observation wheel called The Eye.

But, the view was amazing. It is 445 ft/135m and is the world’s largest cantilevered observation wheel.

Looking out from the Wheel over the Golden Jubilee bridge that we walked across to get there

At one time it was the largest public viewing area until The Shard was built and opened to the public in 2013.

The Shard is over to the left. The tallest building.

When we visit the Shard, we’ll compare photos! Its over 800 ft! WOW! There were about 10 of us in each capsule. It was such a beautiful view. 

The BT Towers’ primary purpose was to support the microwave aerials then used to carry telecommunications traffic from London to the rest of the country, as part of the General Post Office microwave network. There is a rotating restaurant on the 34th floor and is 191 meters/627 ft in total height.

It took about 30 minutes to make the full circle. We only went around once for 30 GBP/$36 USD per person.

As you can see, the landscape of concrete is endless

If you think about it, each car cost $360 USD to ride it! 32 capsules numbered 1-33. Bet you cant guess why there aren’t 33 capsules. There is no #13 car! Thats $11,520 USD per hour if all capsules are full!

At the top of “The Coca Cola Eye”

The highlight of this day was the wild parakeets. They didn’t act wild!