We traveled back to London from Paris with Paul and Angie on December 30th because there was no way we were going to miss seeing New Years here in London! It's one of those places in past years we've seen on TV as massive fireworks displays are shown from major cities around the world ringing in the New Year! We couldn't wait to witness the celebration for ourselves!
Leading up to New Year's Eve we had talked about what our plan was going to be for the night but since we had so much going on with Christmas and our Munich/Paris trip the NYE plans pretty much took the back burner. Since the fireworks are shot from the London Eye and along the Thames River there are plenty of viewing points around the city. The dilemma though was whether to pay to get in somewhere with a view or to just find a place along the river or in one of the parks. The latter option however would include having to be out in the cold and potential rain for hours (it did end up pouring just before midnight)... not to mention being corralled among an estimated quarter of a million drunk people AND having nowhere to use a restroom!
We decided we were willing to pay in order to be inside. So on the night of the 30th while we were still in Paris, Brian and Paul did some searching on their phones to find out where might be available without a completely ridiculous price! They happened to come upon the London Film Museum which is located along the Thames and literally right along side of/below the London Eye. There were 3 levels of tickets each including champagne, a supper bowl and depending on which ticket you bought a different access point to view the fireworks. The top priced level was sold out but we were happy to have the second tiered ticket. We pretty much went into the night hoping for the best but judging by the price (not that expensive for the actual location we were in) we were thinking it had to be to good to be true so we weren't getting our hopes up quite yet...
We had to arrive at the London Film Museum by 7:30pm. Due to it's location being so close to the Eye after that time the surrounding area was shut down to media only! We had prepared ourselves for HUGE HUGE crowds and were mentally prepping ourselves for what riding the Tube into and out of the city may look like! Since we had to be in so early we still had a reasonable amount of personal space and breathing room on the way there. It was amazing to see the large scale of preparation that the city goes through for this night, tons of security and cops everywhere! It was kind of an eerie feeling getting off the Tube and just knowing the amount of people that were going to be flocking to the city center, like a calm before the storm. We tried not to think about what could potentially happen in a crowd that large! Here we are on the way stopping for a quick pic in front of the London Eye just waiting to erupt!
The dress code for the evening was "glamorous" so that also required some thinking on our part and added to not knowing what to expect for the night! Here was the entry to the venue...
We were dressed nicely but some people sure tried to dress as though they were arriving on the red carpet!
Once inside we were given white wristbands which was to color code us as to which level we had paid and which access to the viewing rooms we were supposed to have. We were also given bags with tokens for champagne and our supper bowls. However we quickly realized the lack of organization of the night as we were given champagne twice while entering and they never collected any of our tokens! Oh well we weren't going to deny free champagne! We then found our way to the room that we were supposed to be in until just before midnight when they were to move us to the room with a partial view of the Eye.
We stayed in our designated room and enjoyed a few drinks while listening to the music before we got "curious." Since they weren't manning the door that well to begin with we wandered into the room that we were to be moved to at 11:00pm and got a sneak peek!
We were pretty excited at this point! Made our way back to the room we were supposed to be in and decided we were going to hangout at a table right near the door so we could be one of the first ones to get into the other room to get a place right near the windows!
Meanwhile herds of people were starting to line up to get their "supper bowl" Again we didn't have high expectations for this meal and turns out it was pretty much steamed chicken, broth and white rice. The lack of organization continued as there was one buffet line which was a mile long. We were more concerned with holding our spot near the door then waiting for that kind of food!
After a bit Angie and I decided we were going to go "wandering" again and see where else we might be able to get into! We made it to the area leading into the VIP room (top priced level) but thought for sure when the guy asked to see our wristbands we were going to be sent back...We were supposed to have green wristbands on and all he said was, "white, ok thank you." Angie and I just looked at each other in amazement and walked in! This part of the building was rooms with huge windows facing directly out towards the river with a view of the Eye and Big Ben! Since everyone was in line for the supper bowl it wasn't to crowded yet. We found an amazing spot by the window that was open and stood there making sure to hide out white wristbands. We were trying to decide what to do and how in the world Brian and Paul were going to make it in there too... 2 seconds later they showed up! They went another way and just "acted normal!" The lack of organization was working to our favor!
Here is our view of Big Ben!!! The London Eye is directly above us from the right side of the window! We were all ecstatic to be standing in this spot... however we were not getting our hopes up quite yet because it was only 9:00pm! We knew we had a lot of guarding the window and hiding our wristbands to do in that amount of time that anything could happen! At this point we hadn't eaten anything but completely wrote off trying to wait in line for the lousy supper bowl!
We also were trying to decide what to do since the bathroom was down the hall and we would have had to pass people checking wristbands again. I tried to say I could wait 3 hours in order to not sacrifice our viewing point... but I knew that wasn't true! Paul was giving us all the tips on how to "own the place" and "walk with confidence!" Brian and I were going to go together and the plan was to say to each security person we passed, "good evening, restrooms?" That way they would recognize our face when we came back in and remember we had come from there and not question seeing our wristbands. I was so nervous because I didn't want to loose our place but somehow it WORKED! We made it back!
As time went on we were becoming more and more confident things were going to work out for us! We knew once 11:00pm hit and the room started filling up we would be in the clear! By this point I was pretty much freaking out with anticipation!!!
As the clock approached midnight the excitement was building so much because we knew we were about to witness something unbelievable! When the big moment arrived and being so close to Big Ben we could hear the 12 strokes of midnight which literally gave me chills! The fireworks exploded at the same time and we were blown away! They went on for 15 minutes and we were completely amazed!
Take a look at the clip below that we took of the finale!
After the fireworks we stayed in the VIP area and food was out (pulled pork sandwiches, much better then a supper bowl anyway)! The party continued with dancing and eventually by about 2:00am we decided to head out and see if the crowds had died down at all heading back on the Tube. The streets weren't over crowded luckily, definitely busy but not unbearable. The aftermath of garbage in the streets was crazy! Crews were already using street sweepers and when we walked across the bridge by Big Ben they literally could have used a snow plow!
This is looking at the Eye from across the river. You can see the building to the right is where we had been! Turned out last minute planning and a little luck ended up being the New Years Eve of a lifetime! We all agreed we don't think will ever be able to top this one... it was truly unbelievable! Plus we got to share the experience with our great friends, a time we will never forget!
Since we were so close our perspective was different then where you could see the higher up fireworks and skyline effect. The following clip is long but take a look at part of it to see how large of a scale the display really was... WOW!!!
Happy 2014!!!
