London and now imagine, my dear pupils, we are going on an excursion round london. as you know, london stands on the river thames. london, the capital of great britain, is a very old city. it is two thousand years old. many years ago london was a small town on the thames. now london is a big port and a beautiful city with large squares and parks. about 8 million people live here. london is one of the biggest cities in the world. the thames is not a long river. it is 3 hundred and 30 kilometers long. the english people call it “the father of london”. london began on the thames. and now we start our tour from tower bridge. tower bridge is the only thames bridge, which can be raised. the road over the bridge is built on two central sections. these sections open 2 or 3 times a week to let ships through. if you want to see london the best place to go is the eye. london eye is a big wheel on the river thames. the eye is very popular. every day 1600 people go to the eye. there are 33 capsules and one ride takes 30 minutes. the eye is very tall – 133 meters. at the top of the eye you get a great view of london. you can see buckingham palace. buckingham palace is the london home of the kings and queens of great britain. now the queen elizabeth lives there. when the flag is flying on the top, she is at home. buckingham palace has 600 rooms, a swimming pool, a cinema, a ballroom and a garden. in summer the queen gives three garden parties for about 9000 guests. the ceremony of the changing of the guard at buckingham palace is a great tourist attraction. it takes place every day at 11.30 a.m. and lasts half an hour. to the sounds of music the guardsmen in their traditional bearskins arrive and give the palace keys to another group. on the right bank of the thames you can see the tower of london. the tower of london is a very old building. it is 9 hundred years old. in the early days of the history of england the english kings lived here. then it was a prison where many people died. black ravens had much food near the walls of the tower in those years. black ravens live outside the tower now. the english people like them very much. a man looks after the ravens and gives them food in the morning and in the evening. the ravens have names. the tower of london is a museum now. the walls of the tower are 5 meters thick. in the museum you can see many old guns. at 10 o’clock every evening the guards lock the big doors of the tower for the night. and now we are making our way to the houses of parliament. the famous clock big ben stands near the houses of parliament. the country’s leaders speak in the houses of parliament. the men and women there are the voice of the british people. the houses of parliament stand beside the river thames. you can see big ben and the houses of parliament from westminster bridge. tourists in london always want to visit westminster and see big ben. they want to see the clock in its tower and to hear the bells. big ben is really a bell. it is a big bell. the bell weights 13 tons. the man who built big ben was very tall and workers and his friends called him big ben. so the english people called the bell big ben too. we are coming now to westminster abbey. westminster abbey is a historic building. it is a symbol of england. the legend says that westminster abbey was founded by st peter himself. we know that westminster abbey was built by king edward in 1065. the coronation of all british kings and queens takes place in westminster abbey. some famous english people are also buried here. westminster abbey is a very beautiful building.переведите
