Deanna & Jordan-Part 1

This week (in reality two weeks ago) seemed to be the week everyone had spring break and Jordan and Deanna came to England to visit, so for a few days I ran a hotel out of my room.

Jordan arrived on Monday, and we went out to dinner when I was done with classes. The next day she was off to Bath, but would return to London with Deanna on Wednesday.

So when they came back, I was finished with classes, so we could be all touristy. First stop was my room to drop off their bags. Our first stop was:

The London Eye!

We went at the perfect time: right before sunset. Enough light to take pictures, but the sun setting provided for some interesting pictures.

After you buy your tickets (expensive, but definitely worth it), you go into the “London Eye 4D Experience” which is simply a 5-minute 3D movie of aerial shots of London with a vibrating floor, fog, and some water spray. It was wannabe Disney. The 3D effects were poorly done and at one point, there was a burst of fire in the movie, after which I commented to Deanna: “Disney would use real fire.” They didn’t even blast hot air.

So after that waste of 5 minutes, you head over to the wheel itself where you wait in line, and it was a lot shorter than I expected, as we were only in line for about 20 minutes. When you get on to the wheel, it doesn’t stop for you, so you have to be somewhat careful when getting on, but it moves at a slow 0.6 mph (about 10 inches per second).

Once you board, they lock you in for your 30 minute “flight.” The views were fantastic, so I’m just going to post a series of pictures here of London from the Eye.

1) Deanna & Jordan on the London Eye

2) Looking straight down from the top of the Eye (443 feet)

3) Waterloo Station

4) Buckingham Palace (in the center, just beyond the water)

5) Sun setting next to the MOD

6) The Eye at Night

After leaving the London Eye, we had had to make our way over to the Old Vic Theatre to see Six Degrees of Separation. We grabbed a quick bite to eat in Waterloo Station and then headed over to the theatre. The main reason we went to see the show was to see Anthony Stewart Head (Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and currently playing Uther in BBC’s Merlin). Just look at the excitement on Deanna’s face:

We also were able to get front row seats for only £12 each (I love being under 26!). After the show we waited by the stage door with our pens, cameras and programs to get his autograph and take pictures with him.

The smiles did not leave our faces for a long time and returned every time we saw a poster for the show on the Underground (and still do for me).

After that we searched for a while trying to find a place to get some food, but everything seemed to be closed or not serving food past 10. We headed to Leicester Square and finally settled on TGI Fridays only because it was the only place still serving food, although I think we were one of the last groups to be served.