The Anglo-Saxons' legacy

A brief video about the words Anglo-saxons left in English like the days of the week (whose names come from Anglosaxon divinities' names), the words "woman", "dog","house", "give", "take"...See you in class!

ANGLO-SAXON REPORT

Watch this funny video-clip



Have fun!

Patricia

Big Ben, London.

Two years ago, I was in London with my friends for my first time. I visited many places but one of the most that I like was Big Ben which is the great bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster.

   

The Big Ben was built in the 1800s and It’s believed that gets its name in honor of the first responsible for building, Benjamin Hall.

I found interesting this monument due to its size because the tower is sitting on a basis of 15 meters each side, has a weight estimated at 8,667 tons and has 96.3 m in height. Moreover it seems interesting to me the fact that is an important reference in the city of London.

London Eye

Three years ago I went to London and I visited some famous places like the Madame Tussauds museum, Trafalgar Square and the Big Ben. 

However  what impressed me the most was the London Eye. 

This monument was built in 2.000 to celebrate the new millennium, therefore is also called Millennium Wheel. It measures 135 metres tall and it is seated on the western end of Jubilee Gardens, on the South Bank of the Thames. 

It has 32 cabins which can fit 25 people and the journey, which only takes 30 minutes, consists on a full turn to admire the fantastic views of London. From there I saw several sites as Windsor Castle, Westminster Abbey or Buckingham Palace.

This travel was one of the most beautiful experiences that I have never had. 

I really recommend you to go there, cause I'm sure you'll never forget it. 

FROM BILL TO LAW

If you'd like to watch again the video-clip about how a bill becomes law in the UK, click here

And here is another video-clip on the same topic:

Thank you all for you review of HISTORICAL SITES

Houses of Parliament

Houses of Parliament

Last year I was in London for my first time. I visited, as you can see in the photo, the Houses of Parliament and the Big Ben.

The Houses of Parliament are divided into two houses the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
The Queen is the third component of the legislature.
Parliament approves new laws and debate government policy and current issues.

Big Ben is the great bell in the clock tower overlooking Westminster. It has become one of the most prominent symbols of both London and England.

Burghley House - Stamford, Lincolshire

Hello there!

Five years ago I stayed in Stamford (UK) for one month, a town in the county of Lincolnshire in the East of England, it was an incredible experience and I discovered the beauty of UK.

In this town, I visited a quite important Palace called Burghley House. This country house was built in the 16^th-century for the Lord High Treasure of Queen Elisabeth I, it’s a good example of the English architecture of this age and it also has some baroque style. There are more than 100 rooms, halls, corridors, bathrooms and service areas spread over 4 floors. It has a lot of paintings of Queen Elizabeth I, Henry VIII and Oliver Cromwell. It is surrounded by a large park with hundreds of trees and some deer.

The Burghley house has appeared in several films over the years such as “Pride and Prejudice”, “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” or “The Da Vinci Code”.

It’s one of the most beautiful country houses I’ve ever seen and I really recommend you to visit it.

Royal Albert Hall

Hi everyone!

Unfortunately, I've never been in UK, United States or Australia, but I'm convinced this fact will change very soon! I'd love to visit London, a great city with several places, buildings and monuments that I think are very interesting.
For this occasion, I have chosen a special one, The Royal Albert Hall, one of the biggest covered theaters of the world with an impressive architecture. This disctintive monument of London was built by Queen Victory in 1851.
As a big fan of rock music, I'd be so delighted to enjoy a concert in this majestic place, where the greater bands performed allong the decades. So, bands like Led Zeppelin, Cream, The Who or The Rolling Stones have left their mark in this theater, in unforgetable concerts.



Moreover, since 1942 in The Royal Albert Hall is celebrated "The Proms", the best classical music festival in the world. Every summer you can enjoy with daily concerts, so if you are interested in classical music, you can´t avoid this visit.

For its beautiful design and its legendary  musical history and prestige, Royal Albert Hall becomes one of the most desirable places to visit for me, and of course I'd like to recommend it to all of you!

Rafa

  

The Parliament of Canada

Parliament of Canada

Hi everybody;
I went to Canada four years ago and in these pictures you can see the Parliament of Canada, the federal legislative branch of Canada.

It is in Ottawa, on Barrack's Hill to be precise. This place wasn’t the first place where the parliament was installed, before it was installed in Kingston, Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto. In 1866, the legislature was finally moved to Ottawa, Queen Victoria having in 1857 chosen that city as Canada's capital.

Nowadays the legislature of Canada so similar to the parliament of the United Kingdom. formally, it consists of the British monarch (represented by her governor general) the Senate, and the House of Commons, each element having its own officers and organization.

 It is a spectacular place near to the river with the same name of the city, and also there are  beautiful gardens.
In front of parlament there is the Centennial Flame (a flame on the water). It commemorates Canada’s 100th anniversary. Also there are other sculptures that represent Canadian democracy.
I have the chance, should go to visit it.

Beatriz

The White House

Hello everyone,

I have never been to any english speaking country, and for this entry, I chose to write some quick facts about the White House.We can honestly say that many important decisions were taken in this building so, those walls definitely have a history.

As you know, it's the official residence and workplace of the president of the U.S. and it housed 44 presidents to this day, being located in Washington D.C. , on Pennsylvania Avenue.

President Theodore Roosevelt gave the building the name it has today.

It was initially designed by an Irish-born architect James Hoban and  it was built between 1792-1800 but, in time, the building's structure has been expanded and certain parts of it where changed or restored.The group of buildings surrounding the main residence is known as the White House Complex. It has 132 rooms, 32 bathrooms, and 6 levels , 3 elevators, and many staircases for the people who live or work in the white house.

For recreational purposes, it has a variety of facilities such as a tennis court, a jogging track,movie theater, billiard room and others.

The White House receives about 5000 visitors a day, being one of the most representing landmarks for the U.S. 

The Bournemouth Eye (and sorroundings)

Hi everyone!

I've only been once in England, but I visited a beautiful coastal town called Bournemouth. I have taken photos from this place, but unfortunatelly I don't have it here, sorry.

What I'm going to explain isn't actually a monument, but I think it's one of the most emblematic things in this village.

In this photo, we can see the “Bournemouth Eye”. It's an enormous white, blue and red balloon which is placed in the center of the square's park. Just on weekends you can take it if you pay a modal price, and then, it finally will rise up and you will see such hilarious views from that city.

Another caracteristic of this pleasant site is the appearance of a variety of amazingly coloured lions around all the city. All of them, are placed around the parks, venues and shops; where people stops to see it more accurately.

This scultures have been painted by local artists and the purpose of that project is to preserve and foment the art, but the main objective is giving support to the charity, which leads the money to Africa in order to beat the hunger.

Moreover, there's a chance to win a travel to Africa if you solve correctly the hidden riddle. On the base of each lion, there's a letter, and people have to find it and make the right sentence by collecting all the letters from the 50 lions.

 This event has taken place the last summer and it's supposed to be ended. However, if you visit this encharted site, you'll have a great time spending your free time there, so I cheer up all of you to visit this wonderful paradise.

Kensington Gardens

                                                                     Hello everyone !
I've never been in any english speaking country but I love do it.
Since I saw the movie Winning London I've wanted to go to Kensington Gardens wrere is The statue of Peter Pan which is one of the most famous staues in London.
It was commissioned by J.M. Barried ( author of Peter Pan ) to Sir George Frampton to premiere on the night of the May Moning, 1912. Barried lived near Kensington Gardens and published his first story about Peter Pan in 1902, using the park for inspiration.
In his story Peter flies out of the nursery and lands behind the lake in the exact place where th statue was erected. Frampton should have inspired by the photograph of Michael, one of the boys friends of Barrie, but the sculptor decided to use another child as a model, leaving Barrie very disappointed with the result, he said: " It does not show the devil in Peter".

I hope you enjoyed it !

Alba Villanueva

Phoenix Park - Dublin (Ireland)

Hello people!

Three years ago I was in Ireland for three months, it was amazing! I felt in love of the people, the country and all the landscape. I visited so different places, but one of the most beautiful for me was the Phoenix Park. It is considered as one of the largest walled city parks in Europe, and I think it is true. You cannot see the entire park only in one day, it is enormous and wonderful. Important places are located inside there: the residence of the President of Ireland, the Dublin Zoo (a big area where to enjoy with all kind of animals) and the Willington Monument (a 62 metres tall obelisk, the largest in Europe). You can also find the Papal Cross, where if you are lucky (not my case when I was there), you can find deer.

The Phoenix Park is a place that you always will want to return. Of course it is better to go when the weather let it, because if you can spend and enjoy a day in the Phoenix Park and the weather is good, the experience is double enjoyable! I love it!

The Hermitage Castle

-Redcap-

Hello everybody!

 Well, I have never been to an English-speaking country. However, I would like to introduce the Hermitage Castle, in Scotland. Let me explain why this castle is important for me. I am interested in mythology, and Redcaps are the mythological creatures that I really love. First, I will give a brief information about Redcaps. These goblins or fairies are really dangerous, and scaring creatures. They are thought to be living on the border between Scotland and England. Actually, the place where they live was the Hermitage Castle. Redcaps have to kill humans regularly in order to survive, and they apply the blood ( blood of humans) on their hats. If this blood dries out, redcaps die. This is why they are called Redcaps. The Hermitage Castle is situated in Liddesdale, which is a lonely spot and perfect place for Redcaps to hunt people. The castle was first built in 1240s, by Nicholas De Soulis, and it was used until 1705. Even though it is half ruined, it is still open to public. So, you can enjoy this historical castle if you happen to visit Scotland.

The Hermitage Castle-1814

Manchester and Liverpool

Hi everybody!

I was in Manchester some years ago and I’ve lived there for 6 months. Manchester is situated in Greater Manchester, a metropolitan county in North of England. As you know, Manchester was a city very important during the Industrial Revolution. In this picture you can see the entrance of the “Museum of Science and Industry”.

There you can explore different galleries as Air and Space Gallery, Connecting Manchester Gallery, Electricity Gallery, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway…

Other city that I visited was Liverpool. There, I was in the museum “The Beatles Story” and it was amazing. I could learn a lot of things about the life and the music of the Beatles. In this picture you can see the Port of Liverpool.

Paula

St Andrews university

 

St Andrews University was the first Scottish university, founded in 1410 when a charter was issued to the St Andrews Cathedral Augustinian Priory. Pope Benedict XIII followed this by issuing a Papal Bull in 1413 to the University. Over one hundred years later a royal charter was given to St Andrews University in 1532. Some of the early college buildings date back to this period, such as St Salvator's Chapel and St Leonards College chapel and St Mary's College quadrangle. At the beginnings st Andrews had a strong religious character and must of the teaching was carried out by clerics.

The university grew up quickly until 19th centuries, when its number of pupils began to decrease considerably. To solve the financial problems the college of Dundee was founded. This college would become a prestigious centre of medical research.

Nowadays the university of St Andrews is still one of the most important universities of Great Britain. It receives students from all over the world, specially from North- America.
I know about that because a friend of mine, who is scottish by the way, is studying international relationships in St Andrews and she told me about her college and invite me to spend a couple of days with her at her college. It was great, I really love that place.

Greenwich Park

Hi everybody! I was in London in 2008 with my class and I was in Greenwich Park, a site in southeast of the city. It is a large natural park, also it has a much history and there is the Old Royal Observatory, the most famous of the park, I remember that it was in the top of the mountain, there is the famous line of the meridian 0.

 I loved this park!

Here you can see the map of the park, http://www.londresweb.com/mapa_greenwich_park.htm

Radcliffe Square

Hello everybody,

Last summer I stayed for three weeks in Bristol, but I also visited many other places. When I went to Oxford I discovered Radcliffe Square, which is surrounded by the facilities of the University of Oxford. The square takes its name from John Radcliffe, an english physician who studied there and achieved great success.

Radcliffe's Camera is located in the center of the square. It was originally a science library. It's also part of the Bodleian Library, the main building. Now it holds a large collection of books which can be requested, as you can't directly access the library.

It's one of the most beautiful places in Oxford. It's a must-see! Here's a picture of me in Radcliffe Square (although you can't see it very clearly).

Belvedere Castle

Hi everybody! I have never been to an English speaking country. However, I am looking for to going abroad as soon as possible. One of the most important cities I would like to be is New Work. The first place I would like to visit is the Belvedere Castle. It is located on the top of a hill in the Central Park. It is the highest point of the park, from there you can enjoy a splendid view of Central Park and their surroundings. In addition, the castle has interesting peculiarities. The most important is that this building style has not got an exactly architectural style, because it is the result of a mixture of different styles. That makes this monument a work of art. Nowadays is the seat of the New York meteorological observatory. Moreover, it also includes the Henry Luce Nature Observatory, a small museum which offers a sampling of fauna and flora in the park. As you can see Central Park always  offers a lot of undiscovered places that are quite fascinating! 

 If you want more information about it, here you have the official website of the Central Park: http://www.centralpark.com/guide/attractions/belvedere-castle.html

Brighton & Hove

Hello everyone, this picture when i was stay in Brighton & Hove, specifically you can see behind me old church St Andrews.

Brighton is a wonderful city where we can find a lot of life around the beach, one of the most beautiful places we can find in this city is the pier, there you can enjoy a pleasant afternoon climbing the nearby attractions of the fair.

Another place to visit is the Royal Pavilion, the former residence of King George IV ofEngland, a beautiful palace where you can make some wonderful pictures and stroll through its private parks.

I would like to recommend this city, and you can visit many interesting places, where students can find many places of entertainment and learning English in a dynamic and entertainment schools.

Empire State Building

Hi everybody,

I have not been in an English speaking country, but the place I would like to visit is New York. 

In New York there are lots of places to visit, but the best for me is The Empire State Building.

The Empire State Building was built in midtown Manhattan is the tallest building in New York, is located on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 34th Street. It has 102 stories and reaches a height of 1,454 feet being the largest skyscraper in the world.

The Empire State Building was designed by William F. Lamb from the architectural firm Shreve. The building was completed taking only one year ans 45 days to build with more than 3400 workers at one time, finally was opened on May 1, 1931.

The Empire State Building has one of the most popular outdoor observatories in the world, on the 86th and 102nd floors provides incredible views of Manhattan, having been visited by over 110 million people. 

Also it appeared in hundreds of movies, the most important was King Kong. If you plan to visit the observatory I recommend you purchase your tickets in advance.

I would like to add, if you travel to New York it is the first place you should visit.

Tower of London

Hello everybody,

I've never been to an English speaking country, so I haven't visited any of their historical monuments or sites, so I have decided to describe the Tower Bridge. It is near of the Tower of London. It has become an iconic symbol of London.

The Tower Bridge stretches over the river Thames, since 1984, and it is one of the best known bridges. It was built in a style called Gothic Victorian. The bridge joins two London boroughs: Tower Hamlets on the north side and Southwark on the south side.

Construction started in 1886 and took eight years with five major contractors and employed 432 construction workers.  The bridge was officially opened on 30 June 1894 by the Prince of Wales.

The bridge is capable of raising its two mobile parts in less than 1 minute in order to permit the passage of ships that sail along the Thames.

We can enjoy striking views from the elevated walkway, which were built in order to let people cross the river while the bridge is open.

It is also possible to visit the machines room, where you can see the original steam engines that move the arms of the bridge. The Tower Bridge contains three beautiful rooms enabled for all kinds of activities like corporate events, private acts or even weddings.