Until the London Eye was raised by British Airways a few years back, Londoners' options for gaining a birds eye view of the great city were extremely limited. While high flyers could get a good view from towers such as Canary Wolf or the HSBC Tower and the more fortunate could enjoy a helicopter ride above the city, most people has to make do with partial views for other less grand building or even from places such as Alexandra Palace. All such views have to some degree been obstructed, but enjoyable to some degree none the less.

Now things have changed. Located in Waterloo, the London Eyes is now one of the top toursist destinations and the city. At long last, I made the time to go for a ride on the giant Ferris wheel and it was far from the anticlimax that I had expected. The big was a first date. A last date also as it turned out but that had nothing to do with the venue which I chose. Intent on avoiding the crowds, I booked my ride on the London Eye online a week before and opted for one of the more exclusive packages in order to impress my date. This essentially meant that me and my date we able to jump the queues and share a slightly more exclusive pod with less people than the average tourist. We also got to sip on a couple of glasses of champagne each as we went around on the world's highest observational wheel.

The Eye stands a whopping 135 metres high on the South Bank between Waterloo and Westminster Bridges, right opposite Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament and provides stunning views over central London and beyond. From what is essentially the centre of London I was treated to a gently paced half-hour ride in this space age capsules holding about 12 other people each during which time I was able to see more of the city than I have ever done before ? a 360 degree panoramic view of my office, my home, the Starbucks I buy my coffee from in the morning, and of course some famous tourist attractions.

If you are planning a trip to London, The London Eye is well worth visiting. If you don't like queuing or disappointment consider booking online at least a week in advance. This will put you ahead of the game and depending on the package you chose, gain you some special priveleges.