The British are said to be reserved in manners, dress and speech. They are known for their politeness, self-discipline and especially for their sense of humor. Basic politeness (please, thank you, excuse me) is expected.
Learn more about their customs and traditions.
In Ad 50 the Romans built a city on the banks of the Thames river in Southeast England and called it Londonium. Nobody really knows where this name came from, but today we know this city as London, the capital of England.
In Anglo-Saxon times, Vikings attacked the city. When they found that a bridge blocked them from sailing up the Thames, they towed the bridge away with ropes. Some people think the rhyme, "London Bridge is Falling Down" celebrates this. By the time the Normans invaded in 1066, London had grown into a sizable city and the conquerors decided it would make a better capital than the city they first chose, Winchester.
During the seventeenth century two disasters struck London. In 1665 the Great Plague killed thousands of people. The following year, the Great Fire of London burned down two-thirds of the city. But, in some ways, the fire was a good thing: it stopped the plague from spreading. Also, the king ordered that all new buildings should be built from stone or brick, and so many of them have lasted until this day.
Today London is England's largest city with more than seven million people of all ethnic backgrounds living and working there. The government meets in London at the Houses of Parliament, the prime minister lives at Number 10 Downing Street, and the monarch lives in Buckingham Palace.
The financial district of London is known as "The City" of "The Square Mile." It is a special area and has its own Lord Mayor. (There is a separate Mayor covering all of London.) The new Lord Mayor gets to ride in a horse-drawn golden state coach during the annual Lord Mayor's Parade.
There are many royal parks in London where people walk, ride horses, feed swans, or play games. Baker Street, where the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes lived, is near Regent's Park. With 50 theaters in the West End theater district (many more scattered around the city), fantastic shops, ancient churches and cathedrals, wonderful museums and galleries, London is an exciting city with two thousand years of history.
Some interesting things to do in London:
