The London Eye had not been the only wheel. Related: London Eye at Night is on Fire. The license of this wheel was only granted for 5 years, only to celebrate the arrival of the new millennium. However, in , it was given a perpetual license by the Lambeth Council. The capsules of the wheel are 32 in number but they are numbered 1 to 33, leaving out 13 because of superstition.
Each of the capsules is a representative of the 32 boroughs in London and can carry about 25 people. Also, each of them weighs about 11 US tons. This is because the wheel revolves around at the rate of 26cm per second. This leisurely rotation allows the passengers a full view of London, and that too, without delving into details, not worrying about descending faster.
It was assembled flat and moved onto eight temporary islands on the River Thames; the structure was raised into place in September But the process wasn't without its snafus: one of the cables in the structure snapped before it was lifted, and had to be replaced.
One thing that differentiates the Eye from other Ferris wheels around the world is the fact that it's cantilevered, or supported on only one side.
Wheels with similar structures include Orlando's new Orlando Eye, which opened this summer. More than 5, people have gotten engaged on the Eye since it opened , with both sedate proposals and orchestrated flash mobs among the celebrations. More than weddings have also happened there, with the first one taking place in There have been a few instances of people scaling the Eye , whether for entertainment or for political purposes.
Magician David Blaine took a full rotation standing atop one of the wheel's pods in ; in , a man dressed as Spider-Man climbed the attraction and spent 18 hours on top of a pod, allegedly to call attention to fathers' rights in the U.
In , the Red Bull Academy turned the Eye into a rotating nightclub —well, technically, it turned 30 of the capsules into different parties to celebrate the U. As of this writing, selfie sticks are still allowed at the London Eye —although they're banned from many other London attractions, including the National Gallery of Art and the Wembley Arena.
And the double-curved laminated glass for the pods was made in Venice. The London Eye has 32 capsules, numbered 1 to 12 and 14 to You can read more examples of London's triskaidekaphobic tendencies here. On 2 June , a passenger capsule was named the Coronation Capsule to mark the 60th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
But it's had many official names, courtesy of its various owners and sponsors. Since January , it's officially been the Coca-Cola London Eye, but, let's be honest: no-one's going to call it that. The lights on the London Eye were changed for LED lighting in December , allowing digital control of the lights and their colours.
If you like celeb-spotting in London, you might try and see who you can clock at the London Eye, because it seems celebs love it. According to CN Traveler , Kate Moss has taken to the wheel a whopping 25 times; while at last count Jessica Alba has made a remarkable 31 trips on the Eye. The best things to do in London.
The must-read London articles. The coolest London events from our partners.
0コメント