Saturday 1 December 2007

... a young child's excitement


This weekend we have our young grandson staying and so we didn't waste the opportunity to take him to see the polar bear. Actually he saw the neighbouring window first, which houses a large snowman, and his little face was an absolute picture - he was just enchanted by the polar bear, the snowman and father christmas. Next on the agenda was (shock, horror!) - the big rickety wheel and you should have seen how excited he was. His little head was turned at right angles to his body as he stared up at the big wheel but most surprising of all was just how patient he was waiting in the queue to board the wheel. His excitement didn't diminish one bit once we boarded the pod and rose above the city hall and looked down Belfast Lough and over the surrounding hills.

I have to admit to butterflies in the stomache (just a little bit) when our pod reached the top of the wheel - I'm not scared of heights but perhaps the fact that I was looking out of a large window with no visible means of support 100 odd feet above the ground may have just affected my judgement slightly. Well anyway I calmed my fears very quickly but when we next rose to the top the sudden rainstorm and accompanying strong winds did nothing to allay them whatsoever. Extreme sport it isn't but it did get the adrenalin pumping just a little.

I must say that the admission fee may be a little high but it was well worth paying just to see the excitement on our grandson's face.