London - Eye, South Bank... Day 5, Part 1

Day 5, Wednesday 6th September 2006
~2nd Last Chance Exploration London day~

Today was my brother and sister’s 25th birthday. Obviously I couldn’t make it to the party, so I had my own fun ;) Actually, I spent the morning in Information Centres, pre-purchasing tickets for the London Eye and the Tower of London, and trying to figure out how to get from London to Ireland once I returned from Italy… I ended up at Paddington Station (yes, they sell Paddington Bear merchandise! But no, I didn’t buy any) and could only choose to leave London at 8.45am or about 5 or 6pm… I chose the 8.45am, which meant I would have to leave The Highbury Centre without having breakfast…but I had plenty of time to catch the tube and then find my train to Wales, which would connect me to the ferry to Ireland. It was like a burden was lifted once I finally knew HOW I would be going to Ireland, and also pre-purchased my tickets. The only issue I had then was to make sure I didn’t lose my 4 cards – pre-purchased tickets for the train and ferry, over the next fortnight in Italy!

I made my way to the London Eye… my ticket was for 11.30am….. and I was told to arrive half an hour early to check in. Once I checked in, they put me straight on! I booked for the 11.30am flight, but went on the 11am flight! I didn’t complain! I was happy to have more time to do other things!

When booking my tickets (apparently it was cheaper to pre-book), the man at the Information Centre asked which time I wanted, and I looked at the map he showed me and decided to give myself time to get lost…he laughed at me and thought I worried too much… I do :p But on my own I didn’t want to buy a ticket then get lost and forfeit the ticket ;) He also said, suddenly, that I have amazing eyebrows! Haha! He told me I should only need about 2-3hours at the Tower of London… and to book accommodation etc in Ireland I would need to go to the Irish Tourism Board. I planned to visit them the following day. He said people have told him it’s a bit tricky to find. He also said, with an Irish surname, I must be a “good Catholic like me”, and was a little shocked when I said we changed to protestant! He was Irish but to me sounded more English. Although his passion for his country of birth shone through.

After making it to the top of St Paul’s Cathedral, the London Eye wasn’t a huge adventure, but I did enjoy it. When you watch others riding it, it looks like it moves quite slow, but when you’re on the ride yourself, it goes fairly fast, but slow enough that you can soak up the views, and see them change through the moving heights… I enjoyed looking at certain landmarks from high above, beside, and slightly above, etc. I enjoyed seeing things from different angles. St Paul’s Cathedral offered a different type of view, and you take a cardio workout just to reach the windows with the views!

By today I’d learned to just keep walking and enjoy the journey to the destination… whether or not I knew where I was ;) There is so much to see in London! I enjoyed walking along “South Bank” – reminded me of Melbourne’s South Bank! There I saw heaps of people, and a street performer who was quite strange… I took a photo… he appears as if he is missing parts of his limbs and face… I don’t know how the illusion works, but he was impressive. He was about a block away from the London Eye.

If I return to London, I don’t think I would go back on the Eye, simply because it costs about AU$45…but if I was with somebody else who wanted to ride it I would go again. I wanted to be able to come home and tell people I HAVE been on the Eye. Why would you go to London and NOT have a ride? I know people who didn’t ride, but that’s their choice. I wanted to do as much as I could in the short time I was in London! I quickly learned that meant catching the tube over a bus ;)

Next post will be on the Tower of London...