VDay: Eye on the Prize

...I’m really not a hopeless romantic.

It’s just that I’ve always kind of liked Valentine’s Day. It isn’t that I love the commercialization of it, or the roses or sappy cards; in fact, I generally find roses pretty insincere. (I also don’t like the fact that so many couples seem to make a big deal of the occasion but then in everyday existence, they don’t treat each other particularly well…ahem, that’s a topic for a non-travel blog.)

But despite all the cliché declarations of love, I adore the traditional wearing of red, the eating of chocolates, the celebration of amore, and the romantic ride on the London Eye. Wait, you didn’t do that for V-Day? Sorry ‘bout your luck.

My Valentine’s Day agenda began with a train ride to Oxford to meet up with my brother Matt’s friend Nikki, who goes to Denison and is studying at Oxford for the term. Since I didn’t have much time, she showed me the main attraction (Oxford’s Christ Church, the cathedral and surrounding grounds…they were absolutely BEAUTIFUL), and we enjoyed sandwiches (mine was a bacon, Brie and basil panini), Cadbury caramel milkshakes, and Bailey’s lattes. It was the perfect rainy afternoon for a foodie like me, and I definitely intend on going back for more exploring.

Then I headed back into London and, seeing as I don’t exactly have a Valentine, met up with my friends Spain and Hilary at the London Eye. I was running late thanks to a very crowded Bakerloo line, and I told them when I got there that I’d felt like the London version of Meg Ryan in Sleepless in Seattle: It was raining, and I was wearing a (in my mind, very chic) scarf over my hair and running toward the huge, brightly-lit, pulsating wheel that is the Eye, toward my true loves.

A ride in the Eye lasts about 30 minutes, and those who have paid clamber into one of 32 glass capsules, each of which could hold at least a dozen people. The view is really beautiful, especially at night. We took some pictures (the picture included in this post is a very blurry one, taken from the top), took in the amazing scene, and theorized as to whether any of the boyfriends who had rented a private capsule for themselves and their girlfriends had done so with the intention of getting busy 135 meters above London. (We decided that it would be possible but pretty difficult to pull off…so to speak.)

After our pseudo-romantic ride, we walked on the bank of the Thames and discussed our upcoming trip to Dublin over hearty dinners of chicken dumplings, prawn and chicken fried rice, and chocolate cake. It's interesting, though: if a guy had made V-Day plans that included the Eye and a walk by the Thames, I may have declined based on cheesiness. But for the three of us, it was the perfect date.