Places of interest
GREAT BRITAIN:
England:
Oxford and Cambridge are the old university towns. These towns are sometimes called together Oxbridge. Stratford-upon-Avon is the birthplace of
William Shakespeare (Henley Street) and the place where his plays are performed at the Royal Shakespeare (or Swan) Theatre. Her is also the grave of
Shakespeare, his wife and other members of his family. Brighton, Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Blackpool, Sunderland and Scarborough are peaceful
harbour-town with fishing boats, yachts, cottages and the English like to spend their holidays there.
Southern part of England is full of historical monuments and romantic scenery. Canterbury is city with a magnificent Cathedral (grave of St. Tomas
Becket, executed by the King), it is the biggest pilgrimage site in England. It is known also because of Geoffrey Chaucer Canterbury Tales. In
Winchester there is another old cathedral and once it was the capital of England. Salisbury is the seat of the magnificent Cathedral of Saint Mary,
which has the highest spire in England. In Salisbury Plain we can see a beautiful historic monument of Stonehenge, which are more than 3000 years old.
The ruins stand n the centre of a huge circle 100 m in diameter formed by a bank and a ditch. The ruins consist of two stone circles and two
horseshoes. The upright stones in the outer circle were joined by a continuos line of stones, which lay on the top of the uprights to form a circle
about 30 m. But most of these have fallen down. Within these circles were two horseshoes arrangements and in the centre of the inner horseshoe there
is the Altar Stone. The purpose of these is unknown bur may have been ritual. Stonehenge is only one of a number of prehistoric structures on
Salisbury Plain.
The West Country is still unspoiled by industry. The only larger towns here are Bristol, Plymouth, Bath and Exeter (Dartmoor and Exmoor National
Parks).
On the north is Birmingham it is the second largest city in Britain. We can see Victorian architecture here and the network of canals. Northwest is
mainly on industrial area. In Manchester we can visit the Museum of Science and Industry and Space Museum. The other lit cities here are Liverpool
(the birthplace of Beatles), Leeds, Sheffield and York. Hastings is world famous place in British history. There took place the Battle of Hastings,
where William the Conqueror defeated the Saxon king Harold (1066). Norwich is a market town with long cultural traditions.
Northern England is famous by Cumbria and Northumbria is the country of beautiful nature, many national Parks and cultural traditions, e.g. the city
Durham. The Lake District National Park with beautiful Windermere Lake (romantic poets wrote about it). Now it is popular with mountaineers, painters
and tourists. The lakes are good for water sports (sailing, canoeing and windsurfing). The other national parks here are Northumberland Park and
Yorkshire Dales National Park.
Wales:
The land lot Wales is full of mystery and beauty. There are snow-capped mountains, green valleys, sea resorts, big cities and little seaside towns.
Cardiff, Newport and Swansea are the biggest cities here. Sometimes is Wales called the land of castles, the best known is Caernarfon and Harlech,
which stand on rocky cliffs overlooking the mountains of Snowdonia National Park.
Scotland:
Scotland is a historically and culturally separate country from England. It is the land of many special traditions – playing the pipes, quality
tweeds, woollen and knitwear, wearing kilts, Scotch whisky. The biggest city is Glasgow, on old Victorian town, the culture centre and the heart of
the arts in Scotland (festivals the Mayfest and the International Jazz Festival). Edinburgh is dominated by its imposing 12th century castle =
Holyroodhouse. The city is full of attractive squares, tree-lined avenues and elegant shopping centres like Princess Street. The north of the country
is a large and magnificent lake and mountains area. The biggest lake is Loch Lomond and Loch Ness is famous for its “Loch Ness Monster”.
Nature beauties in England are protected by an organisation called The National Trust.
USA:
New York:
New York is the biggest city in the USA. It lies on the east coast at the mouth of the Hudson and East Rivers and covers an area of 780 sq. kms. It
has about 118 millions inhabitants (whole metropolitan area, central area 7 Millions). It belongs to the largest in the world. New York has fire major
parts: Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx. and Staten Island. The black quarter – Harlem – is in northern part of Manhattan. In southern part
of Manhattan Island there used to be a wall against Indians, now there is Wall Street – the centre of financial life with the most important stock
– exchange in the world.
The city was built on a modern plan of streets and avenues, which follow a geometry shape and are numbered. Only a few of them – the oldest – have
got their manes, e. g. Wall Street, Broadway. Broadway is the centre of cultural life. In southern Manhattan we can find boroughs as Little Italy,
Chinatown, Soho.
East Village is a multicultural area with many ethnic restaurants, funky boutiques, rock and jazz clubs.
Greenwich Village is the home of artists, writers and New York University students.
The city is notorious for its crime (drug battles, gang wars and homeless people).
New York is famous for its Manhattan skyline – a large number of skyscrapers on a small area. Skyscrapers offer residential quarters, office spaces,
restaurants, shopping facilities… The World Trade Center (WTC) is the New York’s highest skyscraper built in 1973 and 47m high with 110 storeys
(other: Empire State Building 381m, Chrysler Building 319m).
Central Park – famous rock concerts take place there. The most world known bridge is Brooklyn Bridge. There are many islands in this area –
Roosevelt Island, Convey and Liberty Island with the Statue of Liberty (a copy of a small statue given to the USA by France to the people of the USA.
It is considered to be a symbol of hope and freedom).
New York is an important industrial city and business centre (machinery, electronics, chemistry, food, textiles, and fish market). It is also the
biggest part in the USA.
There are four airports (e.g. J. F. Kennedy), many TV and radio stations, over hundred hospitals, many universities (best of them is Columbia
University), many cultural institutions, galleries (The Museum of Modern Art, American Craft Museum, Metropolitan Museum).
New York has the largest subway system in the world.
Interesting places in the USA:
On Western coast the most well known places are Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Los Angeles is the second largest. Here we can find the famous film centre American Film Academy awards Oscars for the best film of the year Los
Angeles is also the centre of crime. LA university is called California Technology Institute. There is an important space research centre and
developed car industry and the biggest ZOO in the world.
San Francisco, one of the cleanest, is the victim of frequent earthquakes. It is also known for the Golden Gate Bridge spanning between the Pacific
and San Francisco Bay.
In the south there are following important centres:
New Orleans is the city where jazz was born and where Mississippi flows to the Gulf of Mexico.
Houston is known with the NASA centre and Johnson Space Centre.
Florida is mainly a tourist area with long beaches on Miami.
The biggest centres in the East are:
Philadelphia is one of the oldest cities. It used to be the first US capital. Now it is the centre of machinery and chemical industry.
Chicago lies on the banks of Lake Michigan. In 1971 the highest skyscraper in the USA was built here (Sears Tower – 438m high). Chicago is the
centre of steel and iron industries and it is also an important transport centre (O’Hare Airport is the busiest airport in the USA).
Detroit is the centre of USA car industry (Ford, Chevrolet, Chrysler and General Motors).
Other places: Las Vegas (rodeo festivals, casino gambling), Princeton, Dallas, Niagara Falls.
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