Places of Interest in London

There are a lot of places of interest in London. Among them there are: Westminster Abbey,the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, St Paul’s Cathedral, London Bridge, the Tower of London.

London stands on the river Thames. Crossing the river by the Tower Bridge you can see the Tower of London. It is one of the oldest buildings of the city. Many centuries ago it was a fortress, a royal palace and then a prison. Now it is a museum of arms.

On the bank of the Thames, not far from the Tower of London, you can see Westminster Palace, or the Houses of Parliament. It is the seat of the British government and it is one of the most beautiful buildings in London. In one of its towers there is famous Big Ben, the largest clock of England. It strikes every quarter of an hour.

Buckingham Palace is the Queen’s official London residence. Tourists always go to see the ceremony of changing the Guard there.

London has many fine squares. Some of them are quiet, others are busy like Trafalgar Square. Trafalgar Square is the central square of the city. To the right of the square there is the National Gallery which has a fine collection of European paintings.

St Paul’s Cathedral is the biggest English church. Another famous church is Westminster Abbey where kings, queens, and many famous people are buried.

London is also famous for its beautiful parks. Hyde Park is the most democratic park in the world, as anyone can say anything he likes there. Regent’s Park is the home of London Zoo.

Seasons and Weather

The year is divided into four seasons - they are spring, summer, autumn and winter.

When winter comes, we are to spend more time at home, because it is cold outside. Ponds, lakes, rivers and streams are frozen and the roads are sometimes covered with slippery ice or deep snow. We may get fog, sleet and frost. The trees are bare because  bitter winds stripped them of all leaves. In

spring nature awakens from her long winter sleep. The trees are filled with new life. The weather gets gradually warmer The fields and meadows are covered with fresh green grass. The sky is blue and cloudless. At night millions of stars shine in the darkness.

When summer comes the weather gets warmer and sometimes it's very hot. It's the farmer's busy season. He works in his fields from morning till night. Sometimes the sky is overcast with heavy clouds. There are storms with thunder, lightning and hail. Autumn brings with it the harvest time. The days get shorter and the nights longer. The woods turn yellow and brown, leaves begin to fall from the trees The sky is grey and it often rains.

When does autumn really start?

Seasons are fundamental to how we understand the climate and the environment, but for hundreds of years academics have argued that their specialist field is the one which defines official start of autumn.

In meteorological terms autumn begins on September 1, as each season is defined as a three-month period.

Astronomers base the date of the seasons upon celestial events, in this case the autumnal equinox, when night and day are roughly equal length. The equinox will occur on Sunday, and normally takes places around September 21.

The third definition of the start of autumn, which is more fluid, comes from phenology – the study of periodic plant and animal life cycle events.

The start of autumn in this field is dictated not by a set date or a single event, but the changes in the natural world, such as the tinting of the trees and the ripening of autumn fruits.