Dear friends, let's start our exciting tour! We can't choose where we come from but we can choose where we go from there. A little step may be the beginning of a great journey today!
1. The Houses of Parliament with Big Ben - The Houses of Parliament is the place where laws governing British life are debated and enacted. The building originates from 1840 after a fire destroyed the previous building. The Gothic style was designed by Sir Charles Barry with help from A.W. Pugin. Parliamentary tradition is steeped in pomp, ceremony and splendour. The Queen rides in her State coach to Westminster to open each new session of Parliament, usually in the second week in November. A word of caution; in the summer months it can get pretty congested with tourists and traffic competing to cross Parliament Square. During the Summer Opening visitors can buy tickets to tour Parliament. It is arranged during the summer recess, when Parliament does not sit and Members work away from Westminster. Tours run from Monday to Saturday inclusive, but not on Sundays or Bank Holidays. Tours take about 75 minutes. The 2009 opening will run from Monday 3 August to Saturday 3 October. The Houses of Parliament contain the bell Big Ben that strikes on the quarter hour. A light in the clock tower tells when the House of Commons is in session. `Big Ben` - the ornate, gilded clock tower, strictly speaking refers only to the thirteen-ton main bell. It takes its name either from the original Commissioner of Works, Benjamin Hall, or a popular heavyweight boxer of the time, Benjamin Caunt.
2. Tower Bridge - One of the most famous London attractions and just over a hundred years old, the Tower Bridge with its twin drawbridges, or bascules, each weighing about 1,000 tons have been raised more then half a million times since it was built. It takes only 90 seconds for the bascules to be raised with electric motors which replaced the old steam engines. From Tower Bridge you can view HMS Belfast, an 11,500-ton cruiser that opened the bombardment of the Normandy coast on D-Day.
3. Buckingham Palace - Popularly known as "Buck House", has served as the Monarch`s permanent London residence since the accession of Queen Victoria. It began its days in 1702 as the Duke of Buckingham`s city residence, built on the site of a notorious brothel, and was sold by the Duke`s son to George III in 1762. The building was refurbished by Nash in the late 1820s for the Prince Regent, and again by Aston Webb in time for George V`s coronation in 1913. It is the largest private house in London - it has more than 660 rooms. The palace is actually back-to-front: the side you look at from the Mall is the back of the building.
4. London Eye - Based on the bank of the River Thames near Waterloo Station this is a spectacle well worth a visit. This London attraction will blow your mind away. Basically it is the biggest observation wheel in the world, hence its name. It will, over 30 minutes, make a full circle and thus give you a splendid view of London. It towers 135 meters over the Thames River and weighs 2,100 tonnes. If there are clear skies you will have a 25-mile panoramic view.
5. Trafalgar Square - Here the statue of Admiral Lord Nelson dominates the square from 167 feet above it. Built to commemorate his naval victory in 1805 it is the focal point of this magnificent area. Trafalgar Square was laid out in 1830 and is a popular venue for political rallies and used to be home to thousands of pigeons. The Mayor of London’s recent ruling banning pigeon food sellers is designed to purge this patch of London of a health hazard. The pigeons don’t seem to realize they’re not welcome and you still find tourists feeding them and taking photos with them. Each year people from all parts of London congregate there on December 31 st to celebrate the New Year. Four majestic bronze lions, each 20 feet long and 11 feet tall guard the base of Nelson’s column and the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields, with its lunchtime concerts, dating from 1721 makes it popular destination for tourists.
6. The Tower of London - Overlooks the river at the eastern boundary of the old city walls. Chiefly famous as a place of imprisonment and execution, it has variously been used as a royal residence, an armoury, a mint, a menagerie, an observatory and - a function it still serves - a safe-deposit box for the Crown Jewels. The Crown Jewels are perhaps the major reason so many visitors flock to the Tower. At least some of the Crown Jewels have been kept in the Tower since 1327, on display since Charles II let the public have a look at them. The oldest piece of regalia is the twelfth-century `Anointing Spoon`; the most famous is the `Imperial State Crown`, sparkling with a 317-carat Indian diamond, called the ‘Kohinoor’, a sapphire from a ring said to have been buried with Edward the Confessor, and assorted emeralds, rubies and pearls. Although you can explore the Tower complex independently, it is a good idea to get your bearings by joining up with one of the guided tours, given every thirty minutes by one of the forty-odd eminently photographable Beefeaters. These ex-servicemen are best known for their scarlet-and-gold Tudor costumes.
7. The British Museum - This national institution attracts millions of people each year. It is located on the Great Russell Street, London, WC1 and you can reach it by taking the Tube to Russell Square or Tottenham Court Road. You will find almost everything under one roof starting with collections from Egypt, Greek and Roman art, China, old Mesopotamia, Antiques, coins and medals, Prints and drawings, Renaissance and Anglo-Saxon Britain, etc. The sheer size of the museum (2,5 miles of galleries) should warn you to wear a good pair of walking shoes and be prepared to spend most of the day there.
8. Tate Gallery of Modern Art - The building was transformed from an old power station by the Swiss architectural duo Herzog & de Meuron at a cost of 130 million pounds. This gallery of modern art and sculpture is becoming very popular. Located at Bankside, SE1 (Southwark, Blackfriars) it features international Modern Art organized in four themed groups - "Landscape", "Still Life", "The Nude" and "History".
9. National Gallery - Next to the National Portrait Gallery on the north side of Trafalgar Square you will find the National Gallery which was founded in 1834 and houses one of the greatest art collections in the world. It includes artists like Titian, Monet, Leonardo da Vinci and Turner to name but a few.
10. The Victoria & Albert Museum - This is the home of applied arts. Due to the sheer variety and scale of exhibits there is bound to be something to grab your attention. It has the world`s largest collection of Indian art outside India, Chinese, Islamic, Japanese and Korean galleries, more Constable paintings than the Tate; seven Raphael masterpieces and sizable collection of miniatures, watercolours and medieval and Renaissance sculpture, and a splendid collection of Samurai swords, among other things. It is located near South Kensington tube station, at Cromwell road, SW7.
"Why do you visit the same place if there are so many unexplored corners on the Earth?!
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