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London, the capital of Great Britain, is a very old town. It is two thousand years old. Many years ago London was a small town on the Thames. There were a lot of villages round it and after many years London and three hundred villages grew into a very large city. Some of the names of those villages you can find in the names of the streets in modern London — Kensington, Westminster and others.

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There were many wars in those days and people from other countries came to Great Britain and destroyed London, but new houses of stone grew up.
London stands not far from the sea. Many ships from other countries came to the port of London and brought cotton, food and other things. Factories grew in London and other cities. Many shops were opened in the centre of London. In 1863 the first underground railway began to work. It was very short in those days.
Now London is a beautiful city with large squares and parks. London is one of the biggest cities in the world.

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Hello, ladies and gentlemen! We welcome you to London. London is one of the largest cities in the world. About seven million people live here. London is more than two thousand years old.

Every year more than nine million people come from countries all over the world to visit London. They go to the theatres and museums; they look at interesting old buildings, many of them are hundreds of years old; they sit or walk in the beautiful parks, or have a drink in a pub.

They go to Oxford Street to look at the shops. London’s most famous sights are Tower Bridge, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square and St. Paul’s Cathedral.

You’ll see all these places and much more of London from our red double-decker.

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We start from Trafalgar Square, the main square of central London, where a number of famous buildings and monuments, including the National Gallery and Nelson’s Column are situated. The square is popular with visitors, who come to relax by the fountains there or to feed the pigeons.

Nelson’s Column is a tall column nearly 185 feet (44 m) high with a statue of Admiral Nelson who defeated the French at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

To the left of us you can see the National Gallery. It has got a fine collection of European paintings.

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Now we are coming to Piccadilly Circus and now we are making our way to Buckingham Palace. Look right. We are passing Hyde Park.

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Hyde Park has got a lake in the middle called the Serpentine, and you can take a boat out on the water.

It is a good place to get away from the crowds and the noise of the city.

You can listen to the speakers at Speaker’s Corner near Marble Arch.

People from all over the world come and speak here. You can ask a speaker some difficult questions if you like or you can stand on a box and speak to some of the listeners!

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Now we are at Buckingham Palace.  It is the London home of the Queen. When the flag is flying on the top she is at home. Look, they are changing the Guard. It happens every day at 11.30 a.m.

We have just turned left and you can see St. James’ Park. It is one of the royal parks.

Here you can see pelicans and ducks.

In front of you you can see the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.

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The Houses of Parliament is the seat of British government. It is a very large Gothic building. It stands on the left bank of the river Thames and is 984 ft (280 m) in length.

There is only one building there, but it is called the Houses because it is divided into two Chambers – the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

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Big Ben is the name of the huge clock on the Clock Tower of the Houses of Parliament.

The Clock is 313 ft high and 41 ft square.

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In a moment you will see Westminster Abbey. It’s a royal church. Here you can see the tombs of many British kings and queens and famous people

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Now we are crossing Tower Bridge over the river Thames.

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From here you can see the Tower of London. It was a fortress, a royal palace and later a prison. It is a museum now.

There are a lot of interesting collections in the Tower of London. The ravens are another famous sight. The legend says that without them the Tower will fall. The Raven Master is the person who gives them food.

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And now we are making our way to the famous St. Paul’s Cathedral.

It is the greatest work of the architect sir Christopher Wren.

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We are now going along Fleet Street to the Strand. On the right you’ll see Covent Garden. It was a big fruit and vegetable market. It is now tourists’ shopping Centre with cafes and restaurants. We’ll stop here so that you can go shopping.

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To find information and illistrations to another London sightseeing.