Getting about London

When you are in London for the first time join a circular tour, and you will see every major sight from an open top double-decker bus.

Trafalgar Square makes a good place to meet sightseeing buses, to walk around, to take photographs and to feed pigeons. Admiral Nelson’s Statue guarded by four lions stands on the top of an impressive column in the middle of the square commemorating the Battle of Trafalgar. The north side of the square is formed by the long, low National Gallery, housing the national collection of art and containing some of the word’s greatest paintings.

Then you drive a wide street called the Mall south-west of Trafalgar square. The street is decorated with gilded crowns and banners whenever there is a state visit or any other excuse for a procession. Several great houses there are occupied by various members of royal family. The Mall leads to Buckingham Palace which is the British monarch’s main residence in London. Today the Palace contains 600 rooms and is a mine of priceless art treasures, ornaments, tapestries and furniture, including the Coronation Throne of the present queen.

The main street running south of Trafalgar Square is Whitehall. There used to be a palace once but it doesn’t exist now. Today’s Whitehall is a street of government offices, so the name ‘Whitehall’ stands for the British Government.

Across the square you will be dazzled by the Palace of Westminster, the palace and the name of the British Parliament. When Parliament is sitting, a flag flies from the Victoria Tower and a light shines by night. The Houses of Parliament contain the universal symbol of London, Big Ben, the famous clock, which chimes the hours to the tune of Handel’s music. Close to the Houses of Parliament stands Westminster Abbey. As a royal church it has been the scene of coronations for centuries and the final resting place of countless monarchs, statesmen, poets and heroes.

If you love art and architecture you will be amused by the breathtaking and unique St. Paul’s Cathedral, the most spectacular church in Britain, baroque masterpiece of Sir Christopher Wren.

Your tour continues to the Tower of London, filled with the haunting memories of torture and imprisonment, as well as the richness of the Royal Ceremonies it has hosted. You meet the Beefeaters in their Tudor Uniforms; hear the legend of the ravens and some spine chilling tales from the Tower’s 900 year history.

You can’t leave London without seeing Fleet Street taken its name from the Fleet Ditch, once an open stream. When used figuratively, Fleet Street means ‘the British press’ as the publishing houses of most British newspapers are situated there.

It often comes as a shock to Londoners that Madame Tussaud’s is one of the capital’s top tourist attractions. But millions of visitors from overseas and from parts of Britain would not consider their trip to the capital worthwhile without a stop at the unusual waxwork exhibition in Marylebone Road.

The unforgettable tour includes everything you have ever heard about in London… and much more.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 1077