On the same photo-walk that I photoed the Red Lion (see immediately belw) I also came upon this:
And I got a hell of a shock, I can tell you. I am fond of graphic representations of London’s ever more entertaining skyline, so I took a close look at this piece of graphic fun and games. But but but!!! had they suddenly constructed a giant flamingo in the middle of London which I hadn’t heard about until now?!?
Turned out the Wheel is now the last minute dot com “London Eye”, and the pink flamingo is something to do with last minute dot com and the fact it helps you book hotels in foreign parts. At the last minute, presumably.
A giant flamingo might be quite a good idea. How about somewhere out east, beyond the Thames Barrier? That part of London could use a bit of livening up, with a giant tourist trap. Ideally, you could go up its vertical leg in a lift. Then stop off at a restaurant in the middle. Then climb up its neck on a staircase, from which you could view the estuary, and central London.
Flamingo is obviously an add-on, but what’s that right in the middle? The avenging angel Gabriel riding into town on a Venetian gondola?
As for the flamingo, could you find a place where you could view the same skyline and then set up a plastic flamingo in your view and photo it?
Lots of internet travel agents came into being during the late 1990s dotcom boom. They all had different niches and gimmicks, such as supposedly selling you unsold air tickets and hotel rooms at the last moment. Lastminute.com was originally British.
Then they all merged and got acquired, so that there are probably now half a dozen large firms that control the whole business. However, there are a lot of brands, because most of these large conglomerates still operate all or most of those brands. All of the original niches have been abandoned though – they all more or less just try to sell you any flight ticket or any hotel room or any rental car that you want to buy.