Maturita Card 35: Cities in theUK

z Which famous landmarks should people visit in London and why? If you go to London, you should see Big Ben and theHouses of Parliament because they are symbols of thecity / Buckingham Palace because its where theQueen lives visit Madame Tussauds because thewax statues are incredibly lifelike (look like real people) / TheBritish Museum because you can see artefacts from all over theworld / TheNational Gallery because some of theworlds most famous paintings are there / theTower of London because its afamous historical building walk across theTower Bridge, see theRiver Thames, and ride on theLondon Eye because it allows you to see thewholecity. z Tell me more about some famous London landmarks. Big Ben is really thename of thebell inside theclock tower. Thetower was finished in 1859. / TheHouses of Parliament are also known as Westminster Palace. Thepalace in its current form was built in thenineteenth century. / Buckingham Palace became theofficial residence of theBritish Monarchy in 1837. Thepalace has 775 rooms and covers 77,000square meters. / TheTower of London was aroyal residence before it was used as aprison. It is also where theCrown Jewels are housed. / TheLondon Eye was built in 1999. It takes 30 minutes to go in acomplete circle. There are 32capsules which carry 25peopleeach. z Can you tell me about some of Londons museums or art galleries? TheBritish Museum has famous artefacts, like theRosetta Stone and theElgin Marbles. You can see thereading room where Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker and Mark Twain all visited. / TheNational Gallery has in its collection Sunflowers by Van Gogh, aself-portrait by Rembrandt, Hans Holbeins TheAmbassadors plus paintings by Turner, Cezanne and others. Thegallery is located beside another famous London landmark, Trafalgar Square, where you can see Nelsons Column. / TheTate Modern is an art gallery located in an old power station. z Apart from visiting landmarks, what else can you doin London? London is amulticultural city, so there are many opportunities to eat dishes from all over theworld. London has many markets where you can buy fruit, vegetables, exotic foods, interesting clothes or just enjoy theatmosphere. London is also famous for its parks, such as Hyde Park, Regents Park and Kensington Gardens. Hyde Park is especially famous because of its Speakers Corner, where people can stand up in public and speak on almost any subject. You can visit aproper English pub. You can also ride on Londons famous double-decker buses or on theLondon Underground, also known as theTube. z Can you name thecapital of Scotland and describe some of its famous sites? Thecapital of Scotland is Edinburgh. Edinburgh is pronounced ED-IN-BAR-RAH and not ED-IN-BURG. One of themain attractions is Edinburgh Castle. Many festivals take place in thecity. TheFringe Festival is one of themost famous festivals. Its possible to see plays and musical performances from all over theworld. One of themost popular parts of Fringe is thecomedy festival. If youre in Edinburgh on New Years Eve you can celebrate Hogmanay theScottish New Years celebration. z Can you name thecapital of Wales and describe some of its famous landmarks? Cardiff is thecapital and thelargest city in Wales. Some of themain landmarks are Cardiff Castle, and theMillennium Stadium, which is thehome of Welsh Rugby and is amajor events venue. Just outside Cardiff is theSt Fagans National History Museum, which is an open-air museum with 40 buildings from all over different parts of Wales. It features aVictorian school and church. TheNational Museum of Cardiff has alarge collection of impressionist paintings. z What are some other famous cities in theUK? Why would you visit them? You should go to Oxford and Cambridge to see two of theworlds oldest, most prestigious universities. / Glasgow because it is thelargest city in Scotland and has aunique culture. / Liverpool, where theBeatles came from, is famous for its docks. / Manchester, home of theworlds most famous football team, Manchester United, and birthplace of many British bands. / Aberdeen, which is abeautiful university town in Scotland. / Belfast, because it is thecapital of Northern Ireland. / Bath, because its abeautiful spa town. / Nottingham is known for its forest and castle because they are home to thelegendary Robin Hood. / Bristol is asmall city famous for its art and culture; you can also visit theClifton suspension bridge. Birmingham is in theheart of theUK and is famous for its Cadburys chocolate museum, and for its Balti restaurants (atypeof curry).

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London

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Edinburgh

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Cardiff

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Belfast

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Oxford

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Cambridge

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Bristol

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Nottingham

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Manchester

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Bath