Lying on the eastern fringes of the West End, the district of Covent Garden is a popular shopping and tourist site in London. The district holds its place with a number of shops, street performers and many elegant buildings, theatres and entertainment facilities, including the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and the London Transport Museum.

Earlier the space was famous for its open-air fruit and vegetable market. However, slowly both the market and the surrounding area faded into oblivion as taverns, theatres, coffee-houses and brothels opened up; the gentry moved away, and rakes, wits and playwrights moved in. The place is now a major tourist location containing cafes, pubs, small shops, and a craft market called the Apple Market, along with another market held in the Jubilee Hall.

Long Acre is the main thoroughfare of this district, running north-east from St Martin’s Lane to Drury Lane. The area to the south of Long Acre contains the Royal Opera House, the market and central square, and most of the elegant buildings, theatres and entertainment facilities, including the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and the London Transport Museum; while the area to the north of Long Acre is largely given over to independent retail units centred on Neal Street, Neal’s Yard and Seven Dials.

The Royal Opera House in the Convent Garden was constructed as the “Theatre Royal” in 1732. It has been the home of The Royal Opera since 1945, and the Royal Ballet since 1946. The central square in Covent Garden is simply called “Covent Garden”, often marketed as “Covent Garden Piazza” to distinguish it from the eponymous surrounding area. The church of St Paul’s was the first building, and was begun in July 1631 on the western side of the square. The London Transport Museum is in a Victorian iron and glass building on the east side of the market square. The Covent Garden area has 13 theatres, and over 60 pubs and bars, with most south of Long Acre, around the main shopping area of the old market.

Located along the banks of River Thames, in London, the London Eye is a plain old giant Ferris wheel. What then you may ask is so special about it, that it attracts tourists from all over the world? – The answer is simple, its sheer size and remarkable construction not to mention its 32 sealed and air-conditioned ovoidal passenger capsules, through which you can witness some of the best views of the entire city.

The London eye, also known as the MilleniumWheel and before that the British Airways London Eye, is the tallest Ferris wheel in the whole of Europe. It is 135 metres (443 ft) tall and has a diameter of 120 metres (394 ft).All its passenger capsules are rotated by electric motors. Each capsule can accommodate about 25 people and weighs 10 tonnes. It has been designed by Leitner-Poma and has a space to walk around in the interior.

The wheel’s speed is not too high, so it isn’t one of those thrilling rides of a fair. It takes around 30 minutes to complete one rotation and in that time you are offered excellent views of London, you are free to click pictures, dine, basically do anything within your capsule. The astonishing fact is that it doesn’t generally stop for passengers to board. Its speed is so slow that one can get on and off it without needing for it to stop! However it may be stopped for an elderly or sick person, if requested.

The wheel’s exact location is as the western end of Jubilee Gardens, on the South Bank of the River Thames in the London Borough of Lambeth, between Westminster Bridge and Hungerford Bridge.

This wheel adds to the aesthetic sense of its surroundings. LED lighting from Color Kinetics is used to light up the entire wheel in the evening. The rim of the Eye is supported by tie rods and resembles a huge spoked bicycle wheel.

Architects Frank Anatole, Nic Bailey, Steven Chilton, Malcolm Cook, Mark Sparrowhawk, and the husband-and-wife team of Julia Barfield and David Marks are responsible for the building of this magnificent Ferris wheel.

The London Eye was formally opened by the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, on 31 December 1999 and since then it has served to symbolize London internationally just as the Eiffel symbolizes Paris. It has increased the tourist rate tremendously and though certain problems did come up, the government made sure that this landmark was made permanent.