Seeing the Eye; Alan arrives

London Voyage - Monday, October 8, 2002

Alan was set to arrive this afternoon and I didn't plan a London Walk in the morning, so I spent my time moving from my single room to a double room at the Curzon House. After that, I then headed up to Regent Street, which is basically London's Fifth Avenue or Rodeo Drive. All the nicest and most expensive stores are there - and while I was willing to buy stuff, I just couldn't. I started my walk at Oxford Circus and walked towards Picadilly Circus via Regent Street. I looked at most of the windows and only went into Hanley's Toy store, which is FAO Schwartz gone mad. It was incredible to walk around there. But man, London is expensive! I managed to get out of there without any money spent - until I hit Tower Records again at Picadilly Circus. That place was a freaking magnet! But now it was time for me to go face my fear and ride the London Eye, the 450-foot high Ferris Wheel built for the millennium. And you know what? It wasn't scary at all. I felt quite safe in the capsule, which comfortably holds about 30 people and gives a dramatic view of all of London, for 25 miles in all directions on a good day. WOW! A definite must-see when you're in London.

The London Eye

That afternoon/evening, Alan finally got there. It was great to see him again, but there was small time for reunion, as I had us on a schedule! But I chose...poorly, our restaurant to eat at, because we ate an actual restaurant that took its time and we didn't have that time. After a mad dash on the tube to where we were supposed to meet for the Ghosts of the West End London Walk, well, we got there at 5 minutes past and the group was gone. We went in different directions looking for them, but we gave up. I was bummed to not see Eric and Sheri again (they were headed out the next day), but what can you do? Since Alan and I were already on the river bank, and it was evening, we decided to take some pictures of London at night. Then after doing that, we made our way back to the hotel area and went to a local pub, where we caught the last 10 minutes or so of a Manchester United soccer game, during which we saw the only 3 goals scored by MU. The place went wild. A few pints later, we both decided to go to sleep.

Nighttime in London

Click here to see what happened the next day!

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