London

In the beginning:

•  The name London comes from the Romans

•  The Romans came to England in AD 43

•  They called the town Londinium

•  They built a bridge over the Thames

•  Soon after AD 400, the Romans left Londinium to go back to Rome

•  The building began to fall down

•  King Alfred was king of England then

•  In 1066, William the Conqueror came to England from France to be king

•  In 1665 there was “The Great Plague”

•  In 1666 there was a big fire, called “The fire of London”

•  Today more than six million people live here

Visiting the City:

•  The way to get to different places in the city is to use an Underground train, a red bus, a taxis, called “black cabs”, or a boat trip

•  The hours, between eight o’ clock and ten o’ clock, are called the “rush” hours

•  You can stop a taxi if it has a “For Hire” sign on it.

Some places to go:

•  Buckingham Palace is the Queen’s home

•  At half past eleven the soldier at Buckingham Palace “change the guard”

•  In some periods it can visit some of the rooms in the palace

•  It can visit also the Royal Mews and the Queen’s Gallery at the palace

•  The Tower of London is now a museum

•  There is a Yeoman Warders who tell tourist about the Tower

•  Tower Bridge is near the Tower of London and it’s one of the most famous bridges in the city

•  St Paul’s Cathedral was built by Sir Christopher Wren after the Fire of London

Westminster:

•  Westminster Abbey is more than nine hundred years old, and is a very famous London church

•  The Houses of Parliament is the home of the British government

•  The clock high up on the buildings is called Big Ben

•  The Prime minister lives at 10 Downing Street

Parks and gardens:

•  Hyde Park has a lake in the middle called the Serpentine and you can take a boat out on the water

•  Kensington Gardens is next to the Hyde Park and here you can see the statue of Peter Pan

•  Regent’s Park is the home of London Zoo. The zoo has thousands of birds and animals from all over the world. There is also a theatre in the park

•  St James’ Park is next to The Mall. It is smaller, but many people think it is more beautiful

Shops:

•  The most famous shop in London is Harrods

•  Oxford Street has many big shops and there are always lots of people looking at the shop

•  Charing Cross Road is famous for its bookshops

•  Covent garden was once a big food market, but now it has lots of small shops and cafes

•  Petticoat Lane Market is a good place to buy cheap things

•  At Portobello Road you can buy hundreds of things

Theatres and music:

•  London’s West End has some of the best theatres in the world: the Royal Shakespeare Company, Barbican Theatre

•  The are a lots of cinemas to visit

•  There are also many places to sing music from all over the world

•  For ballet, go to the Sadler’s Wells Theatre

Sport:

•  Some of the most famous English football clubs are in London.

•  You can see Arsenal, Chelsea or Tottenham Hotspur

Museums and galleries:

•  The British Museum is the biggest museum in Britain

•  The Museum of London is one of the most interesting museums in the city

•  Museum of The Moving Image is a museum that tells the story of cinema and television

•  National Gallery has more than two thousand pictures

•  The London Dungeon is a “Museum of Horror”

•  Madame Tussaud’s is famous for its people made from wax

Some interesting and exciting days:

The day more interesting are the Trooping of the Colour and The Notting Hill Carnival