Although the London Eye ferris wheel is impressive to see from the ground, the views from the gondolas are more impressive. The wheel was built in the years 1998 and 1999 and is officially an “observation wheel”. (Maybe that is why spell check wants to keep changing my word “ferris” to ferric or ferries.) It was officially opened on December 31, 1999; hence, the original name “Millennium Wheel”. Passengers did not start riding until two months later on March 9, 2000.
The wheel takes 30 minutes to rotate so it does not have to stop to embark or disembark passengers, they just walk on while the door is open at the bottom. The wheel is 120 meters in diameter (394 ft.) and the complete structure is 135 meters high (443 ft.)
You can see Buckingham Palace if you know where to look. Using my cell phone I tried to get a picture of it. First, I will show you the video then a gallery of four pictures I captured from the video.
The video quality can be chosen from the bottom right corner of the video player while it is playing and the playback speed can be changed too. The pictures in the gallery can be seen full size by clicking on them.
Can you see the Queen Victoria fountain and the visitors gathering around the gates in front of the palace?
Another interesting feature is the Charing Cross Station and bridge. Originally named the Hungerford Bridge, it was rebuilt to carry trains across the Thames. It also has two pedestrian bridges, one each side of the train bridge. They were rebuilt as well and called the Golden Jubilee Footbridges. The brick supports are from the original bridge built in 1845. The video will show you what the gondolas look like and how they are supported so that they can rotate to always be upright throughout the rotation of the wheel.
The next video looks to the north and shows a train leaving the station and heading off in the direction of Tower bridge. It also revisits the views to the west.
Did you know that there is an UBER boat service operating on the Thames River? It appears to operate more like a bus service.
How slow does the wheel rotate? Slower than the traffic on the Westminster bridge. 😉 As busy as the Westminster bridge is, the Golden Jubilee footbridges serve more pedestrians, maybe because it is quieter and leads to Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, and Leicester Square. Looking to the south, over the Westminster Bridge, is the Lambeth Bridge.
There is a camera mounted on the supporting structure of the wheel and it takes pictures of the groups in the gondola as they passes over the top. There are signs telling the riders to prepare for the picture. So, I got ready to take my picture, and I did. At the end of the ride we stopped by the gift shop to see what the picture of our group looked like. They said their camera was not working that day. I am glad mine was. 😉
