London (remix).
London has been a capital city for nearly a thousand years and many of its
ancient buildings still stand. The most famous of these are the Tower of
London (where the Crown jewels are kept), Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's
Cathedral, but most visitors also want to see the Houses of Parliament,
Buckingham Palace (the Queen's London home) and the many magnificent museums.
Places now in the heart of London like Westminster once stood in the middle
of green fields. Many small villages like Hempstead, Chelsea and Mayfair
became part of London, but they still keep some of their old atmosphere.
Different areas of London seem like different cities. The West End is a rich
man's world of shops, offices, and theatres. The old port area is now called
"Dockhands". The great ships have gone and the area is changing very fast.
There are huge new office buildings and thousands of new flats and houses.
Like all big cities London has streets and concert buildings but it also has
many big parks, full of trees, flowers and grass. Sit on the grass in the
middle of Hyde Park or Kensington Gardens and you will think that you are in
the country miles away. Many people live outside the centre of London in the
suburbs and they travel to work in the shops and offices by train, bus or
underground. Most people work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. By day the whole of
London is busy. At night the offices are quiet and empty, but the West End
stays alive, because this is where Londoners come to enjoy themselves. There
are two opera houses here, several concert halls and many theatres as well as
cinemas and in nearby Soho the pubs, restaurants and nightclubs are busy half
the night. Many people think that London is grey but in fact red is London's
favourite colour. The buses are red, the letter boxes are red and the mail
vans are all bright, bright red. London has many large department stores,
which sell everything: shoes and shirts, paper and perfume, footballs and
frying pans. More people come to Oxford street, London's most popular
shopping centre. The street is more then a mile long.
