LONDON SIGHTSEEING TOUR

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 362.

Hello, ladies and gentlemen! We welcome you to London. London is one of the largest cities in the world. About seven million people live here. London is more than two thousand years old. London's most famous sights are Trafalgar Square, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London and St Paul's Cathedral. You'll see all these places and much more of London from our red double-decker.

We start from Trafalgar Square, which commemorates Nelson's victory at the battle of Trafalgar in 1805 in which he was fatally wounded. Trafalgar Sq uare was designed between 1829 and 1840, with Nelson's Column as a centre-piece. The column is over 170 feet high while the statue of Nelson itself is 17 feet high. Bronze bas-reliefs at the foot of the column, made from the metal of captured French cannon, represent Nelson's four great naval victories. The four bronze lions at the base were added in 1867.

Now we are at the Houses of Parliament. Once a royal palace the Houses of Parliament are now the seat of the Government and the heart of the Commonwealth. This enormous edifice, probably the largest in the world contains over 500 apartments as well as the Central Hall, Clock Tower, and the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The Clock Tower, 320 feet high is famous for its immense hour bell, known as "Big Ben". The Houses of Parliament stretch for nearly 1.000 feet along the north bank of the Thames. When the House is in session, a Union Jack flies from the tower by day, and a light burns in the clock tower by night.

Now we are coming to Westminster Abbey. It's a symbol of English tradition at its best. The coronation of nearly all English kings and queens since William the Conqueror has taken place here. Many of them are buried within the Abbey. Beneath the roof of this Gothic building there are also the graves and memorial slabs of statesmen, philosophers, men of letters and other dis­tinguished people.

Now we are crossing Tower Bridge over the river Thames. From here yoJ can see the Tower of London. This massive pile which has been at one time or another citadel, palace, prison, treasury, armoury is perhaps London's most outstanding link in the long chain of its his­tory. Nowadays the Tower is a museum, housing the National Collection of Armour and the Crown Jewels and Royal Regalia.

The City's greatest monument, St.Paul's Cathedral was built by Sir Christopher Wren between 1675 and 1710 . The dome, perhaps, the best known of London's landmarks, is 365 feet high. Ch.Wren is buried there. His tombstone bears a Latin inscription, "Lector, si monurrien­tum requiris" (Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you).

We'll stop at CoventGarden, an area of London once famous for its fruit and vegetable mar­ket, now replaced by expensive but popular shops, eating places. Our tour has finished. I hope that you have enjoyed this tour of London. Thank you and good-bye.

Unit 8