AS a Spanish exchange student for only a year here in the University of London, I’ve rented myself a flat suite. During the first weekend of my schooling here, I decided to indulge myself alone on a ride of the London Eye, said to be the largest Ferris wheel in the world. One ride costs only 14.50 pounds.

I’ll tell you, the ride looks scary at first because the Ferris wheel (or more accurately, the capsule that you’re gonna be riding) won’t stop upon reaching ground level but will continue spinning to the top. However, the wheel is so gigantic that its slow speed can let you jump into the capsule without harming yourself. (The speed is that real slow that a complete revolution takes 30 minutes.)

I don’t have any fear of heights but to tell you honestly, I’ve been wary of riding any amusement park features. The amusement part certainly ticks me off and my fear even compounded when I heard that a girl lost her feet after a cable snapped from the Superman Tower in Kentucky and hit them. I often ride see-through but sturdy elevators with the ground slowly inching away from you but London Eye is certainly different. Nope, it’s not your average Ferris wheel where you’re enclosed in a cage and you’ll have to hang on to the swing with your girlfriend who’s as scared as you although you’ve got to show a more reassuring face both to satisfy your ego and your girl. Instead of a monkey-like cage, the ride in the London Eye is in the form of a capsule which can seat half a dozen people and chat with them while the ride is going up. It’s still scary as hell because it’s not like you’re in the ISS watching our huge planet but because of the see-through features of the capsule, it’s like you’re really like watching River Thames and the cars in the Westminster bridge below like they’re some minuscule Legos. It’s really scary I tell you, my hands are still sweating from writing this.

Even scarier is the fact that prior to going to the London Eye, I’ve watched the movie Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer earlier. One of the scenes in the movie was the London Eye being almost snapped if not for the fantastic timing of Jessica Alba’s character to rescue it and the people riding in it. During the time that I was riding the London Eye, there was even a huge Silver Surfer at the rim of the huge Ferris wheel. Of course, I’ve read that the rim of the London Eye is made of tie rods and every safety precaution is guaranteed by its operators but then again, the scary Superman Tower accident popped into my mind while riding the London Eye. I think I’m not paranoid with that. But gleefully, I hopped back to the ground without any incident. And so because it was nearing twilight already, the LEDs in the London Eye came up and it was really an amazing eye-to-eye sight with the huge thing in front of you especially that the Silver Surfer was also illuminated in its shining glory. Eight million people have already ridden the Eye and they’re scared just like me but nothing happened to them. I think it should be your turn now.