London

London and Other British Towns and Cities
Give London´s history in brief
Talk about its most important places of interest
Comment on some aspects of everyday life in London
Name some British towns and cities and explain what makes them attractive for the tourists

General information. London, the capital of United Kingdom is situated in the southeastern part of England. It covers area of 610 square miles and has some 8, 000, 000 inhabitants. London can be divided into two parts: the City of London (commercial and business center, older part, more on the east) and the City of Westminster (historical center).
History
Londinium was founded in 44 AD by Romans and made it the capital of province Britannia. After Romans left in 5th century London still kept it s privileged position. Later, after battle at Hastings (1066) the famous Norman king William the Conqueror came to Britain and chose London as his seating city.
In the year 1665 death came calling on the city of London. Death in the form of plague. People called it the Black Death, black for the colour of the tell-tale lumps that foretold its presence in a victim's body, and death for the inevitable result. The plague germs were carried by fleas which lived as parasites on rats. Although it had first appeared in Britain in 1348, the islands were never totally free of plague, but it was like an unpleasant possibility that people just learned to live with while they got on with their business. This time it was different.
Other famous occasion afflicted London in 1666 - the great fire that destroyed the city (but nobody was killed). The new London we know today with wide paved streets and stone buildings was built by Sir Christopher Wren. London was terribly damaged during the second world war
Places of interest.
The Tower of London - the oldest surviving building in London. Used by Romans and Saxons as a fortress, later rebuilt by William the Conqueror to today s White Tower. It used to be a Royal Palace, a Zoo, a prison and place of public executions. Today it is a museum and place there the Crown Jewels are kept. The Tower is famous for its ravens with cut wings and for the Yeoman Wardens.
The Ceremony of Keys - the oldest military ceremony in the world. It begins every evening eight minutes before ten at Bloody Tower. The Chief Yeoman Warder secures the gates of the Tower and enters the Bloody Tower. This dialogue is held every evening: Halt, who goes there? The Keys. Whose Keys? Queen Elizabeth s Keys. God preserve Queen Elizabeth! Amen - sounds as the clock strikes ten. Then the Keys are put in the Queen s House where are kept overnight.
The Tower Bridge - is the last bridge on the River Thames. It was built in 1894 in the style of Victorian Gothic. It can break in the middle and be risen up (it takes 90 seconds) to allow big ships go through.
St. Paul s Cathedral and the Whispering Gallery - it stands on the place of previous cathedral demaged by fire in 1666. It was built by Sir Christopher Wren and completed after 35 years of works in 1711. It is built in Baroque style and is the second largest church in the world (170m long, 111m high). Lot of Royal weddings and funerals took place here and many famous people are buried here. Whispering Gallery can be found at the dome s cupola and is famous for its unique acoustic.
The Westminster Abbey - was founded in eleventh century and was rebuilt many times. Most coronations were held here and many British monarchs and some important people are buried here.
The Houses of Parliament and The Big Ben - Houses of Parliament is the seat of Parliament since 1547. The building was rebuilt into Neo-Gothic style in 1840 on the place of old Westminster Palace. The British Parliament has two chambers - The House of Lords and the House of Commons. Its clock-tower with the famous Big Ben bell is one of the best known London sights. BBC uses the strikes of Big Ben as the time signal.
The Trafalgar Square - is the beautiful place with several historical sights. The Nelson s column in a monument of the Battle at Trafalgar 1805, where Admiral Horatio Nelson defeated French and Spanish fleet. The Column is 49m high with statue of Lord Nelson on its top. The Column is surrounded by 4 huge iron lions made from the weapons from the Trafalgar battle. Other interesting building on TS is St. Martin-In-the-Fields church built in Classicist style and The National Gallery. Trafalgar square is also famous for its pigeons.
The Buckingham Palace - The wonderful Classicist building which serves as the seat of the Queen and the Royal Family. It was built in 1703 by Lord Buckingham and since times of Queen Victoria British monarchs use this Palace as a seat. In front of the Palace is the Baroque monument with golden statue of Queen Victoria. Every midday the Changing of the Guard Ceremony takes place in front of crowds which stay in front of the Palace for hours just to see it.
The Guard - The Guard is changed every hour and each day at 12 o clock the famous guard-changing ceremony is held. The uniforms of the Guard consists of black trousers, red coat and special hat made of bear fur called bearskin . All over London we can meet Yeomen, Beaffeaters and Bobbies.
The Piccadilly Circus - is one of the busiest places in London. The heavy traffic reaches its top around 5pm. Piccadilly is famous for the neon advertisements and for the statue of Greek love god Eros.
The Royal Albert Hall - is the capital point of cultural life. Lot of concerts are held here - it s like, when artist can have the performance in Albert s, he/she s really good.
Whitehall – street, leading from Hoses of Parliament to Trafalgar square.
Downing Street 10 – the official home of British Prime Ministers, two horse guides stands before the entrance. Today’s Prime Minster is Tony Blair.
The National Theatre – was moved to a new building. There are many other theatres and also the royal Shakespeare Company, which usually play in Stratford.
Windsor Castle – is the residence of nearly all the British sovereigns outside London.
Greenwich – there is the Royal Observatory and it is situated at the prime meridian.
London eye - is an extremely large passenger-carrying Ferris wheel situated on the banks of the River Thames in Central London in the United Kingdom. The height of it is 135 meters and the middle of the wheel was made in Czech (Skoda)
Of course this was just a segment of what London can offer to you. Thousands of sights, galleries and museums, millions of stores, kind people, green parks you can have a rest in? To me London stays one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Bustling with life, hosting people of many nations, races, cultures. You can explore London for ages and you will never know it all.
Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, England and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.
The park is divided in two by the Serpentine (lake).
What I image when I hear London?
London black cabs and double-deckers - cab is the word for London taxi. I have heard that to make a taxi licence in London takes three years. You have to prove that you know the City really well, that you know where and when traffic jams usually are and which is the best way to avoid them. Double-deckers are here for tourists so that they can take a sight seeing cruise across London
Royal Guards, wearing pretty funny red clothes
Pillar boxes – it’s kind of post boxes, red..
Of course, the red Telephone box, London eye, Big Ben
Comment on some aspects of everyday life in London
I always wanted to visit London, but if I imagine living there, I have to say no! London is big and surely exciting, but finding the right place to live in London must be really difficult. Accommodation there is expensive and London's size and diversity means finding a suitable flat or house to let or buy is a challenge. You have to be OK with everyday traffic jam or rather travel underground.
On the other hand you have an amazing opportunity to be in the probably cultural place on the world. So many concerts and museums, theatres, sport events (2012  Olympic games)

Other important British citites:
Edinburg: Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland and its second-largest city.
It is situated on the east coast of Scotland's central lowlands on the south shore of the Firth of Forth on the North sea and forms the City of Edinburgh council area. (The city council area includes urban Edinburgh and more rural areas.) It has been the capital of Scotland since 1437 and is the seat of the country's devolved government. The city was one of the major centres of the enlightenment (see Scottish Enlightenment), led by the University of Edinburgh. The Old Town and New Town districts of Edinburgh were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. In the census of 2001, Edinburgh had a total resident population of approximately 440,000, making it the 7th largest city in the United Kingdom.
Edinburgh is well-known for the annual Edinburgh Festival, actually a collection of independent festivals held annually over about four weeks from early August, when the population of the city doubles. The most famous of these events are the Edinburgh Fringe (the largest performing arts festival in the world), the Edinburgh International Festival, the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, and the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Another famous event is the Hogmanay street party.

Birmingham – the second biggest city in the UK, almost a million people live there, Birmingham was the powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution in England. The city suffered a lot during the 2WW, it was completely rebuilt in the 1950s. I was there.. mention Selffridges designed by Jan Kaplicky..

Liverpool – the fourth largest city, population more than 45000; Liverpool football team. It was a very important harbor (the Albert Dock), but today it’s not. Liverpool band called Beatles – have you ever heard of it?


Manchester – the population similar to Liverpool, it was known as the Textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution, there are two football teams – M. United and M. city.

Cambridge – the University of Cambridge was founded in 1209, Pink Floyd