The Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth opens today. Or does it? Because see... it was supposed to be a 'millennium' project but it was started in 2004. Then there were problems with the budget, the cracking concrete, the architect and the copyright. And when we thought we had walked over this valley of tears....

See what happened today, inauguration day, as reported by the local The News : "THREE people were stuck in the Spinnaker Tower's troubled outside lift today in a disastrous opening day for the landmark. The lift got stuck 100ft up the tower with city council project manager David Greenhalgh and a representative of tower builders Mowlem inside. In an ironic twist, engineer Luca Frigerio from Maspero – the company which built the troubled lift – was with them. The trio were trapped for around an hour and a half as crowds who had assembled for the big opening day watched in amazement from the foot of the tower. Engineers in abseiling gear were sent up to look at the lift and try to solve the problem. They appeared to tinker with the mechanism on the outside of the lift shaft before it was eventually brought back to the ground at 11.20am. Problems began even before the tower opened at 10am this morning. Even as visitors – who began to queue before 6am – eagerly awaited the opening, there were last-minute worries. Heritage project manager Juliana Delaney took the decision not to open the external elevator, and to allow only the internal one to open. That meant disabled visitors who would not be able to get down the tower's 570 stairs in an emergency were not allowed up the tower".

What can I say? I am laughing my head off. Tomorrow I'll tell you what happened when the City Council moved Nelson's statue to a new location in the city and decided to give the statue a bit of a cleaning. You won't believe what happened.
UPDATE: And see the tower collapsing here . This is the work of a University of Portsmouth student.

La torre Spinnaker de Portsmouth se inaugura hoy. O no. Porque vereis... se suponia que era un proyecto para el 'milenio', pero se empezo a construir en 2004. Pasadito, el milenio. Luego hubo un sin fin de problemas : con el cemento que se agrietaba, con el presupuesto que se disparaba, el arquitecto que queria el copyright de la torre.. Y cuando creiamos que ya habiamos superado este valle de lagrimas...

Ved lo que paso hoy, el dia de la inauguracion, segun informa el periodico local The News : "Tres personas quedaron atrapadas hoy en el ascensor exterior de la Torre Spinnaker, en lo que ya se conoce como una desastrosa inauguracion del proyecto. El ascensor se paro a 100 pies del suelo siendo los pasajeros en su interior el Director de proyectos del Ayuntamiento, David Greenhalgh y un representante de la empresa constructora, Mowlem. Para mas ironia, el tercer pasajero del ascensor era el ingeniero Luca Frigerio de la empresa Maspero - la empresa que instalo el ascensor. El trio quedo atrapado durante aproximadamente, una hora y media, mientras el publico que se habia congregado para presenciar la inauguracion les contemplaba con asombro desde la calle. Ingenieros pertrechados con equipamiento para la escalada bajaron por el exterior de la torre para tratar de solventar el problema. Se les vio manipular el mecanismo del exterior del ascensor hasta que, por fin, a las 11 y 20 de la maniana el ascensor acabo descendiendo. Pero los problemas habian empezado incluso antes de la apertura de las 10 de la maniana, yamMientras los visitantes hacian cola (algunos desde las 6 de la maniana) para subir a la torre. Juliana Delaney, Manager de Proyecto de Heritage, tomo la decision de no poner en marcha el ascensor exterior y permitir que solo funcionara el interior. Como consecuencia de ello, no se permitio la entrada a visitantes minusvalidos, ya que no hubieran podido bajar los 570 escalones en caso de emergencia.

Que puedo decir? Que me estoy partiendo el culo de risa. Y maniana os contare lo que paso cuando el Ayuntamiento decidio mover la estatua de Nelson a un 'lugar mas apropiado' y, de paso, darle un repaso y limpieza. No os vais a creer lo que paso.
ACTUALIZACION: Y podeis ver como cayo la torre aqui . Es el 'trabajito' de un estudiante de la University of Portsmouth.

The weather today:
Cloudy
14C
UV Index: 0 Low
Wind: From the East at 14 mph
Dew Point: 11C
Humidity: 82%
Visibility: 6 miles
Barometer: 1010.2 mb