Keeping an Eye on London

Dateline: July 6, 2015
Place: London
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Temperature: 24°C
Song of the evening: Eye of the Tiger by Survivor

Before I left for the UK, I had lunch with my colleague Andrew Riddle. Andrew went to King's College London and knows the city well and I was hoping for tips on what sights to see.  He suggested a walk along the South Embankment (prescient!) and mentioned the London Eye but not with much enthusiasm.

Here's a shot of the London Eye I took from the north side of the Thames.
The building behind the Eye houses the London aquarium.

However, I couldn't miss the Eye as I walked about the South Bank--to the Houses of Parliament and Lambeth Palace--and it looked like fun, although the prices start at £19.50 so definitely could qualify as a "tourist trap." And if looked like a wonderful way to get a bird's view of the city. So tonight finds me making the short walk to the London Pier and riding along with classmates as well as other British Studies folks.

(Google Maps)

Wow ... what a view!

Starting in the top left-hand corner, this is the screen that identifies all the key buildings looking east along the Thames; top right-hand corner is an early view of the South Embankment; bottom left-hand corner is looking east down the Thames towards St. Paul's Cathedral; bottom right-hand side, of course, is Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.

Dr. Dave Davies, the chief factotum of our trip (i.e., the prof. responsible for the entire program, not just the library science group) was kind enough to take a photo for me as I'm not too good on selfies ... and he contributed the shot of an Eye pod (sorry, no pun intended). 

I felt like I was in a very spacious, slow moving ski gondola and I highly recommend being "trapped" by the Eye.

References
Google Maps. (2015). [Stamford Street to the London Eye]. Retrieved from https://www.google.ca/maps/dir/127+Stamford+St,+London+SE1+9NQ,+UK/London+Eye,+Lambeth,+London+SE1+7PB/@51.5040672,-0.1179752,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x487604b74b8a9af9:0x54b703a8b21d032b!2m2!1d-0.111794!2d51.50543!1m5!1m1!1s0x487604b900d26973:0x4291f3172409ea92!2m2!1d-0.119543!2d51.503324!3e2