Please read and enjoy our article and watch your FREE LONDON MUSIC VIDEO at the end "Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner……"
Thus go the words of an old Cockney hymn that is not heard too much these days. I'm not absolutely sure why.
Yes things change, everything changes, but do they always have to be at the cost of some good things that gave us so much pleasure in the past?
London, thank goodness, manages to hang on to most of the attractions that have defined it as one of the more important world capitals. | | Leadenhall Market, the City | London, capital of the United Kingdom , was founded about 2,000 years ago by our friends, the Romans. Ours is not to reason why they chose 'Londinium'; after all Rome was a pretty decent place to live.....unless you were an early Christian slave, a wild animal, or Julius Caesar, of course!
Anyway, the Romans did choose London, and today, London is the largest city in Europe .
London's ancient heart, the City of London (also called "the City" or "the Square Mile" ) still retains its mediaeval boundaries and is now one of the world's most important financial centres.
There's something incongruous about the narrow, sometimes cobbled, City streets being host to the headquarters of so many of the world's leading companies.
There's certainly no shortage of wine bars and interesting old pubs to quench the thirst of City workers and London's tourists alike, or exquisite small parks and squares to rest their weary bodies while birds wait patiently for crumbs from their packed lunch.
Whatever its failings, London is a magnet for both domestic and overseas visitors. London tourism is massive, its visitors manage to spend around £15 billion each year .
London is also home to a wide range of peoples, cultures and religions. More than 300 languages are spoken by around 7,500,000 Londoners living within the Greater London boundaries.
London's public transport network of is one of the most extensive in the world. London's main airport (it has several), Heathrow , has more international passenger traffic than any other airport in the world .
And those international travellers just love to visit London!
London's visitors come for many reasons.
They come to shop in Oxford Street and other favourite West End shopping streets. They come to visit London's theatres and the wonderful London museums and art galleries . They come to see our Queen . |
|  | | Big Ben and Bagpipes - that's easy for you to say! | | But most, I think, come to see and learn about London's rich history. They want to see what makes London tick, to enjoy, explore and photograph the beautiful old buildings such as Tower Bridge , the Tower of London , St Paul's Cathedral , the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben . | | Changing the Guard | They want to take a boat trip along the River Thames from historic Greenwich , the home of time, to the beautifully preserved old buildings of Hampton Court Palace , playground of Henry VIII .
They want to enjoy the majesty of 'The Changing of The Guard' at Buckingham Palace and be photographed for posterity smiling alongside those huge, gaily uniformed guardians of London's traditions and institutions. Perhaps they want to see if London has changed, if Londeners have 'moved on'. To a large extent we probably have. We may not hear the strains too often nowadays of "Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner" but I'm pretty sure there are many among those 7½ million people who still sing it in East End pubs .
Or perhaps sing it quietly to themselves as they stroll through Tower Gardens staring wistfully at the Victorian glory of Tower Bridge.
Just maybe in one of the 299 other languages! |
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