London Eye - a welcome pause in a busy city

I'm going to be honest here - going into this trip I thought the London Eye was one of those over-rated, over-priced tourist attractions that we kind of "had" to do - for no other reason that it was on the list of things everyone "should" do.  As a tourist destination it gets more visitors that the Taj Mahal and Pyramids of Giza combined.  But I wasn't sure why.  It's just a giant ferris wheel, right?

So I bought the tickets, put a date on the calendar, prepared for the long line and added it to the itinerary.  We showed up, picked up, lined up, and less than 15 minutes later were in our own private glass capsule, slowly moving upwards to the east, with a beautiful view of the bridges, buildings, gardens, and of course, the Thames.  And it was awesome.  It was photos and selfies, pictures on every side, from every angle, and every configuration of students possible.  It was 26 minutes of pure joy, wonderful views, and a celebration of all the friendships that had been made and/or strengthened in the last week.  The sun was shining and the capsule was warm.  It was a break from the cool London wind.  There was room to sit and rest your feet, though most didn't, because the place to be was up against the glass.  We rounded the top and started to set on the west, watching the Palaces of Westminster becoming increasingly clearer.  And it was wonderful.  Every moment of it.  It was a moment of pause in an otherwise busy week - one needed and enjoyed by all.

Getting Ready to Board the Eye

Entering the Capsule, and the photo session starts immediately.

Here's our group!  Love these guys!  Couldn't have asked for a better group to explore London with.

Group sitting on the rails, with London behind them.  On the bottom you have Ms. Garr (left) and Ms. Mulji (right) and the views from the capsule in between.

The view of the Palace of Westminster (top), group selfies (bottom left) and group getting ready for the "official" picture (right).

Few last photos before exiting the capsule - include a rare one of me (I prefer to be behind the camera.