Efren travels to LONDON 6th Year students

Ceip Saco e Arce

2011

Hi! I’m Efren . I took a train from Orense to Santiago . There, I took a a plane to go to London . I want to show you what I did there. I visited the Queen at Buckingham Palace and the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street. I went to Westminster Abbey, to Hyde Park, To the Houses of Parliament… COME WITH ME!

What is the difference between UK,

England, and Great Britain (GB) ?

United Kingdom: the union of 4 different countries:

England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

Great Britain: The big

island, formed by : England, the capital is London Scotland , the capital is Edinburgh and Wales , the capital is Cardiff

England: It’s the largest country in Great Britain and the UK. The capital is London.

Essential information

Money : Pound (£) ; 1 pound =100 pence

Measures: Distance is measured in miles or yards, drinks are

measured in pints

Traditional Food: Roast beef, roast meat, Yorkshire

pudding, fish and chips, English breakfasf (eggs, bacon, sausages … )

Traditional drink: tea

Weather: Britain has a variable climate : it’s difficult to

predict the weather. In general they have warm summers and cool winters. July andAugust are the warmest months.

Holidays: The most important festivals are…

http://projectbritain.com/holidays.html

British Money

tea

English breakfast

The National symbols and emblems

Patron Saint: St George, 23rd April

National flower: red rose

National animal: lion

National tree: oak

• England

Coat of arms

Scotland

National animal: Unicorn

Patron Saint: St Andrew, Nov 30th

National flower: Thistle

National hero: William Wallace Coat of arms

Tartan

Wales

National animal: Red dragon

National tree: Welsh oak

Patron Saint: St David, March 1st National flower: daffodil

Coat of arms

Northern Ireland

National plant: Shamrock

Patron Saint: St. Patrick, March 17th

Coat of arms

The Union Jack: The British flag

The Union Jack is formed by the flags of 3 countries : England, Scotland and Norther Ireland

England is represented by the flag of St George

Scotland is represented by the flag of St Andrew

Northern Ireland is represented by the flag of St Patrick

A flag that contains 3 flags

The Royal flag When the Queen is at home, you can see the Royal flag on top of Buckingham Palace.

The 3 yellow lions walking on a red field represent England.

The red lion standing on a yellow field represents Scotland

The coat of arms on a blue field represents Ireland.

The Queen Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is the United Kingdom’s Head of State. She’s married to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburg. They have 4 children: - Prince Charles, Princess Ann, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. - They have 8 grandchildren.

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace is the Queen’s official home in London. When the Queen is at home, the Royal flag is flying at the top of the Palace.

The Palace is about 200 years old. It has 600 rooms, 78 bathrooms, 92 offices, a cinema, a swimming pool… It also has a post office and a police station. About 400 people work in the palace: servants, chefs, cleaners, gardeners, electricians, plumbers …

The Queen has other homes: Windsor castle and Balmoral castle

Balmoral is in Scotland. The Queen lives there in Summer.

Windsor castle is about 900 years old

The Queen guards These are the guards who guard the Queen and the Royal Palaces

Foot guards Beefeaters

Horse guards

Foot guards They are at the front of Buckingham Palace. They wear a red jacket with golden buttons, dark blue trousers, a white belt and a tall black hat made of bearskin from Canadian brown bears.

Here we are doing the Changing of the guard, a ceremony that takes place every morning at 11.30 in front of Buckingham Palace.

Beefeaters They are at the Tower of London. Their duty is keep the Bitish Crown Jewels safe. They wear a scarlet tunic, scarlet stockings and a round black hat. For their everyday duties they wear a red and dark blue uniform with the initials of the Queen E R

The mounted guards

They are on horseback or dismounted at the entrance to Horse Guards: the main entrance for Buckingham Palace and ST James’ Palace.

10 Downing Street

I visited the Prime Minister at his home at 10 Downing Street . David Cameron is the Prime Minister at present. He’s the head of the British goverment.

I went sightseeing around London. I visited some famous places there.

Houses of Parliament

Here I am in front of the Houses of Parliament, the home of the British Goverment. It’s next to the river Thames. The famous Clock Tower is part of the Houses of Parliament.

The Big Ben This is the clock

tower. It is 100 m tall.

Big Ben is the name of the bell which strikes the hours in this famous clock.

The clock’s got four faces.

Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey is a very famous London Church. It is more than 900 years old, It’s opposite the Houses of Parliament. Great Literary figures of England are buried at Poet’s Corner.

Trafalgar Square It’s the biggest square in London. This square conmemorates the victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 against the French and Spanish army. In the centre, you can see Nelson’s column, named in honour of Admiral Nelson. It’s 56m tall. A statue of Nelson is at the top. Four big lions are at the base. There are some statues and fountains. If you like paintings, you can visit the National Gallery. There are works by Leonardo Da Vinci, Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet…

Picadilly Circus It’s a popular meeting place. It’s particularly interesting at night when the advertising boardings light up. In the centre there is a statue of Eros, the god of love.

The Tower of London It’s more than 900 years old. It had a lot of different uses: Royal Palace, prison, place of execution... Now it’s a museum. Visitors come to see the Crown Jewels and the Tower guards called 'Beefeaters'.

The Crown jewels

The most famous tourist attraction in the Tower of London is the collection of Crown Jewels.

I’m wearing the Imperial State Crown. Do you like it?

Tower Bridge Here, I am in front of the Tower Bridge. It’s next to the Tower of London. It’s more than 100 years old. It’s 265 m long. There are two towers. The central parts can be opened to permit the passage of ships and large boats.

Museums and Galleries

The British Museum: there are works from prehistoric to modern times from around the world: Greek and Roman sculptures, Egyptian mummies…

The Natural history museum: rare animals and dinosaurs .

Madame Tussauds : wax figures of many famous people . Who can you see here?

Tate Modern: modern art from 1900 to the present day. This is a painting by Picasso.

The London Eye

Here I am in one of the capsules. There is a great view over London.

I had a ride in the London Eye, a very popular tourist attraction. It’s a giant observation wheel, 135 m high. It’s one of the highest wheels in the world. There are 32 egg-shaped capsules. A complete turn takes 30 minutes.

Oxford Street – Regent Street

They are London’s most famous shopping streets. You can find a lot of clothes shops, shoe shops, toy shops, music shops, bookshops and large department stores including Selfridges, Marks & Spencer, Debenhams etc.

I wanted to buy some presents and souvenirs, so I went to Oxford Street and Regent Street.

Hyde Park

Look at this!! There are lots of squirrels like me in Hyde Park!! They come close to you and they eat from your hand. There are birds, too. There is a big artificial lake called The Serpentine. You can go rowing or swimming. You can go horse riding, cycling, rollerblading, jogging or walking along the park .

Transport THE TUBE

The Tube is the quickest way to go around London. It’s faster than a bus or a taxi. It’s the oldest metro in the world. The first line opened in 1863. There are 12 lines. Each line has a name and a different colour on the map. About 2.5 million people use the tube every day.

THE red BUS

These are the red Double Decker buses. They are very famous. You can see the route number at the front.

THE BLACK TAXI CABS

I took a ride in a black taxi cab from the station to the hotel. They have a yellow sign above the windscreen. When they are free, the sign is lit and you can stop one in the street.

The red telephone box

If you haven’t got a mobile phone, you can call home from a telephone box. They are red. The first telephone box was installed in 1924.

Policemen

Here I am with two “Bobbies”, the nickname for British police. They wear dark blue uniforms and white shirts. They wear a helmet with a badge on it. You can see policemen driving cars or vans, riding motorbikes or bikes and you can even see them riding horses.

Sports Sports like cricket, football, lawn tennis,

golf, rugby… began in Britain.

• Cricket is the national sport. There are eleven players in a cricket team.

• Football is the most popular sport. Some of England’s football teams are famous: Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool.

• Tennis: Wimbledon is the world’s most famous tennis tournament.

More sports

• Horse racing: The Derby and The Grand National originated in Britain. Race horses in Ascot are very famous

• Polo: It’s played with 4 men on horses. It’s the fastest ball sport in the world.

• Table tennis was invented in England in 1880 in Cambridge University.

• Badminton

• University boat race: In March or April, the two oldest Universities in Britain _Oxford and Cambridge_ hold a race on the River Thames .

Britain is famous for many things…

We have already said a lot of things Britain is famous for, but there are even more other things:

• Its green hills and countryside

• Its breakfasts mushrooms

Baked beans

bacon

eggs

sausage

• Fish and chips

It’s a popular take-away food in Great Britain. It consists of fried fish served with chips.

• Its cheeses

Cheddar

Stilton

Cheshire

Its educational institutes

Cambridge Oxford

It has some of the most famous universities of the world like Oxford, Cambridge and London universities.

Its pubs

Many people go there to watch a football game, play pool or just have a beer

• Its castles

Stonehenge

It is the most important prehistoric monument in England.

William Shakespeare

He’s the English national poet. He was an English poet and playwright. Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Othello, and Romeo and Juliet were written by him. He and Miguel de Cervantes, our greatest writer, lived at the same time and died the same year: 1616

The legend of Robin Hood and

Sherwood forest

The legend says he was an archer and swordsman . He is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor“. He and his band (Little John, Will Scarlett and others ) lived in Sherwood forest. They were supporters of King Richard the Lionheart and fight against the Sheriff of Nottingham. He was in love with Maid Marian.

Sherlock Holmes He is a

detective

created by sir

Arthur Conan

Doyle.

He’s famous for

his methods of

deduction. He

likes plsying the

violin.

Dr Watson is his friend . He helps Holmes with his interesting cases and they both live in London, at Baker Street.

Famous Pop stars

Amy Winehouse Leona Lewis

Elton John Robbie williams

Famous actors and actresses

Anthony Hopkins

Orlando Bloom Hugh Grant

Charles Chaplin

Kate Winslet

Robert Pattinson

Rowan Atkinson

Sean Connery

Catherine Zeta Jones