London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and the most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. The city is located on the banks of the River Thames and it is mainly famous for the Big Ben, the Tower Bridge and the Buckingham Palace where lives the Royal Family, including the Queen Elizabeth the Second. London is visited by more than 60 million people every year. The majority of tourists visit the popular museums, such as the British Museum, the National Gallery, the Natural History Museum, the Southbark Centre, the Tate Modern and a lot more. Nevertheless, it is also worth to learn more about different interesting facts on the city.
At the beginning, it is worth to start with the London’s symbols. London is widely known for films and books. Most people associate the city with red double-deck buses. The truth is that since 2005 this characteristic model (Routemaster) goes only on two tourist lines (9 and 15). Other symbols of London are red phone boxes and black taxis. According to the latest researches, Big Ben is undoubtedly the most characteristic point on the map of Great Britain. It is also worth to tell something more about quite new tourist attractions of the city that is the London Eye. It is a wheel ferry that is 135 metres high. The rotation of the wheel takes 40 minutes and the capsules for passengers are air-conditioned. The London Eye is made of 1700 tons of steel. The construction was created to celebrate the new millennium, and the grand opening was conducted by Prime Minister Tony Blair on December 31, 1999.
During mentioning important facts about the city, it is worth to mention the London fire that took place in 1666. The fire broke out and as an outcome 2/3 of London’s area was destroyed. It was very difficult time for people and brought numerous diseases and plagues.
Another interesting fact about London is the language that can be heard on the London’s streets. It is called cockney and it can be difficult to understand even for people who speak English fluently. Why? It is well-known that not much Londoners speak pure English – the proper English. For this reason, more and more people communicate in cockney. It is the dialect used widely, especially among the lower classes. Cockney is practically incomprehensible even to native people of England. In addition, almost half of the representatives of London comes from different corners of the globe. The city has become a mixed cultural pot.