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Great Britain – Politics, Travelling, Food, London

GREAT BRITAIN

Great Britain is a country that is changing all the time. There is a mixture of traditional and new, old-fashioned and modern; fusion of people from different countries using different languages and bringing various national traditions. So it has become a multicultural and multiethnic society. The country is developing in many fields such as science, education, finance, politics etc.

Population: approximately 60 mil.

The climate: - mild and variable, it changes from hour to hour. The sky is often grey and it rains quite a lot, it is often cloudy, wet and windy. Britain has 4 distinct seasons – spring, summer, autumn and winter. There are cool summers and relatively mild and humid winters. The warmest areas are in/around London, the wettest in the Lake District Region.

UK consists of four parts – England (the capital city: London)

 Wales (the capital city: Cardiff)

 Scotland (the capital city: Edinburgh)

Northern Ireland (the capital city: Belfast)

Geography:

Mountains: Pennines, Scottish Highlands

The highest peak: Ben Nevis (in Scotland)

The longest rivers: The Severn, The Thames

Lakes: lakes in The Lake District, Loch Ness (Scotland)

Politics

The official name: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The national flag: Union Jack - consists of red and white crosses on a blue field (crosses represent England, Scotland and Ireland)

The national anthem: God Save the Queen

- it is a constitutional monarchy governed by a monarch (the king or queen)

- the head of the state is the Queen Elizabeth II. She reigns, but does not rule. So her function is highly representative. The country is governed, in her name, by the government - a body of ministers called the Cabinet (22 leading ministers chosen by the Prime Minister who is responsible for the policy and decisions of the government).

PM – current Theresa May, past: David Cameron, Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, Sir John Major, and Baroness Margaret Thatcher etc.

Parliament consists of:

House of Lords - 700 non-elected MPs (archbishops, bishops, peers)

House of Commons - 659 elected MPs (the Prime Minister + MPs - Members of Parliament)

There are 3 major political parties in the UK: Conservative party, Labour party and Liberal Democrats.

- general elections are held every 5 years.

Travelling

The British Isles were joined to continent politically (in 1973 became a member state of the EU; thought they haven´t accepted euro as their currency) and physically (in 1994 the Channel Tunnel was open to connect the isles with the continent; it´s more than 50km long)

England provides 6 international airports and several smaller ones. The most important ones are in London - Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted, Southend and City. Heathrow is the 3rd busiest airport in the world.

The tube or underground is a public metro system - the network has expanded to 11 lines.

Food

Just like us, the British start a day with something light: cereals and milk, fruit juice, coffee or tea (nation´s favourite drink). However, their traditional breakfast consists of bacon, sausages, fried eggs, baked beans and toast. Lunch should be something small and quick to eat. The British prefer sandwiches or their traditional take-away food fish and chips. It is a hot dish wrapped in newspapers.

Important Dates/Holidays: December 31

New Year´s Eve

- it is traditional to celebrate midnight with your friends or family

January 1

New Year´s Day

February 14

St. Valentine´s Day

Celebration of love and romance.

March 17

St. Patrick´s Day

People go out with friends, wearing green or a shamrock symbol drinking Guinness, the Irish dark beer.

March/April

Good Friday

Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. °egg hunt, hot cross buns

March/April

Easter Sunday

April 23

St George´s Day

The legend is that St George was a Roman soldier who killed a dragon to rescue a princess. ° the patron of England

October 31

Halloween

Children go trick-or-treating or carve pumpkins, students go to parties and Halloween events at pubs, clubs

November 5

Bonfire Night

‘Remember, remember the 5th of November; gunpowder, treason and plot’. ° fireworks show

November 11

Remembrance Day

It is to remember those who lost their lives in fight; traditionally they keep a 2-minute silence at 11 a.m.

December 24

Christmas Eve

There are Christmas trees, presents, carol singing, mulled wine (warm, spiced red wine), mince pies etc.

December 25

Christmas Day

December 26

Boxing Day

Sport: football, rugby, cricket, fishing, tennis

Famous landmarks and places to go to:

LONDON

- the capital city of the Great Britain

- it is situated on the river Thames

- red double-deckers, the Underground, airports: Heathrow, Gatwick

- The Tower - iconic symbol of London. It served as a royal palace first, then prison and fortress. It is a museum now, we can see the Crown Jewels here.

- Tower Bridge - it can open in the middle and let large ships go through, it is over the river Thames, close to the Tower of London

- St Paul's Cathedral - built by sir Christopher Wren

- prince of Wales (Charles) and Lady Diana got married there

- The Houses of Parliament - Palace of Westminster- the seat of the British Parliament, built in gothic style with its famous clock tower Big Ben

- Buckingham Palace - The residence of the British royal family

- guards in red uniforms - changing guards parade is interesting for people

- Oxford Street - famous for shops

- Piccadilly Circus - famous for entertainment

- Trafalgar Square - one of the largest London squares with the statue of admiral Nelson in the middle

- Madame Tussaud's museum - waxworks of famous people

- Hyde Park - the largest park, Speaker's Corner - where everybody can make a public speech on any topic

- Downing Street 10 - the official home of the Prime Minister

- Westminster Abbey - Roman Catholic Church, gothic architecture

- kings and queens were crowned there

- royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine took place there

- The National Gallery

- the British Museum - the largest in the world - all kinds of animals, minerals, rocks, mummies and manuscripts can be found there, it has the largest library in the world

- Kew Gardens - the Royal Botanical Gardens with the largest collection of living plants in the world

- Greenwich - the seat of the National Maritime Museum with the Royal Observatory

- London Eye - the world’s largest observation wheel and the London’s most popular tourist attraction

OUTSIDE LONDON

- Windsor Castle - the residence of the royal family outside London

- Oxford, Cambridge - old university towns

- Stratford Upon Avon - birthplace of William Shakespeare

- Canterbury - ancient city with majestic cathedral

- Stonehenge - prehistoric monument built in a circular area with standing pillars

- it was used for religious, tribal rituals

- a legend says that gentle giants were dancing there and were turned into stones and

that's why the stones are arranged in a circle

- Lake Loch Ness – lake is called “Loch” in Scotland – one of the biggest lakes is the lake Loch Ness. People believe that a monster called Nessie lives in this lake.

- Liverpool – is the home of the famous band Beatles.

English stereotype (the English) people are reserved in manners, dress and speech, conservative introverts, snobs (posh people), people with fair skin, freckles, red hair, patriotic, they are proud of their Queen (and royal family), polite (people with good manners), cold, punctual, disciplined, tradition loving, garden loving, calm and patient – men wearing bowler hats, suits, gentlemen, carrying newspapers under their arms, umbrellas with national flags or pictures of the royal family in their hands, pets loving, serious (they don't express their emotions, don't use gestures), they never hurry, they rarely shake hands when they meet someone in the street, wearing sandals with socks, cardigans, – when going by bus, train or tube, everyone is sitting and reading newspapers, they have a lot of picnics, smoke pipes, talk about the weather, drive on the left...

England (typical features of the country) – it's a land of beer, football, cricket, tennis, rugby, bad weather and rain, double-deckers, red post boxes and phone boxes, country full of hedges, well-kept lawns, specific English humour, English tea (with milk), fish and chips etc. – Elton John, David Beckham, Posh Spice (Victoria Beckham), Depeche Mode, Coldplay, George Michael, Lady Diana, prince William and Catherine, Robbie Williams, William Shakespeare, Francis Bacon, Robin Hood, eccentric prince Charles, Mr. Bean...

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