New Year's Eve Fireworks in London

On New Years Eve, Laura and I braved the crowds and the sub-freezing temperatures to see the big fireworks display on the River Thames. The fireworks display was directly over the river, many of them shot directly from the London Eye.

We arrived at the mob scene at about 21:00 (24 hour time used here in honor of the European preference for it) wearing long underwear, sweaters, big scarves, skull caps, two pairs of wool socks, and our thickest jackets. (I even wore a second jacket underneath my big jacket.) At about 21:30, trees started getting toilet-papered. At 22:00, the music started. At 22:30, the cold was starting to creep through all our layers. Around that time, famous people like Ricky Gervais, Michael Caine, and Homer/Marge Simpson started dispensing well-wishes via an enormous projection on a building behind the London Eye. Finally, at about 23:50, they started pumping the crowd up with louder music and lights on the Eye, followed by a countdown on the aforementioned building and the chiming of Big Ben at 24:00. Then the fireworks started and ran for about 10 minutes. I'm not a big fan of fireworks, but it was a very nice show.

London Eye

After walking along the South Bank, we queued-up for a trip in the London Eye. The London Eye was opened in March 2000, as a celebration of the new millennium and a modern Britain. It was designed by David Marks and Julia Barfield, a husband and wife architect team.

There are 32 capsules on the wheel - one for each borough of London. Each capsule can hold 25 people; that's 800 people per revolution. The Eye loads and unloads while still moving and each flight last about 30 minutes. From the top of the Eye (135m tall), on a clear day, you can see Windsor Castle, some 40 km away. For more information about the construction of the Eye and other fun facts visit here.

Here are some of our photos of the Eye (since we chose to ride the eye at night and tripods are not allowed we do not have any pictures of the amazing views from capsule):

South Bank Walk

After Gallivanting through Greenwich, we hopped on a bus back to Tower Bridge to begin a walk down the South Bank of the Thames River. Here are the photos from our walk down the Thames:

Tower Bridge

Tower of London

City Hall

View of Downtown London from across the Thames River

HMS Belfast

Old Billingsgate Market

Southwark Cathedral, where John Harvard was baptized

Shakespeare's Globe

We popped into the Royal National Theater for one of their daily free concerts. The concert of the day was by a jazz group called the Christian Brewer Trio.

Golden Jubilee Bridge (AKA Wobbly Bridge)

London Eye and the London Aquarium

Big Ben & Parliament Buildings