Interesting places in London (5)

Westminster Abbey

The Harrison and Harrison organ of Westminster Abbey was installed for the Coronation of King George VI in 1937. With four manuals and 84 speaking stops, it incorporated some of the pipework from the previous five manual instrument, built by William Hill in 1848.
The earliest evidence of any organ in the Abbey dates from 1304, referring to ‘a pair of organs’ in the Lady Chapel. From the late sixteenth century there was an organ in the Quire, of which no details survive, but that was certainly played by John Blow and Henry Purcell – two of the most eminent names amongst the list of distinguished Organists of Westminster Abbey (see below). A new organ, built for the Coronation of George II in 1727, was re-located and placed on the central screen at the entrance to the Quire. This was replaced in 1848 by the Hill organ, built on the North and South sides of the Nave Screen where the Harrison and Harrison instrument now stands. The two organ cases, built originally for the Hill organ in 1895 by the architect J.L. Pearson, were coloured and reinstated in 1959.
No significant changes were made to the original specification until a major overhaul in 1982. A second, unenclosed choir division was installed in the North case, and new stops added to the Great and Pedal divisions. At the console, a fifth manual was added in preparation for the Bombarde division located in the North Triforium. Completed in 1986, this new department comprises fanfare reeds and a robust chorus, giving the organ a greater presence and supporting large congregations on major occasions.
2006 saw a complete overhaul of the console. The memory capacity was doubled to 512 channels; ten thumb pistons serve each of the four main manuals; new reversible thumbs pistons are in place for 32 foot stops; and the music desk is now fully adjustable.
The Organ plays a central role in the Abbey’s daily liturgy, accompanying the choral music with distinctive colour and sensitivity; it is also a powerful and versatile solo instrument. Organ recitals take place every Sunday, given by the Abbey organists and visitors from across the world, and each year the Summer Organ Festival brings some of the world’s leading performers to the Abbey.

Interesting places of London (4)

National Maritime Museum

The National Maritime Museum (NMM) in Greenwich, England is the leading maritime museum of the United Kingdom and may be the largest museum of its kind in the world. The historic buildings forming part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, it also incorporates the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, and 17th-century Queen's House. The museum is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

London Aquarium

The Sea Life London Aquarium is located on the ground floor of County Hall on the South Bank of the River Thames in central London, near the Merlin Entertainments London Eye. It first opened in March 1997 and remains the capital's largest collection of aquatic species.
The attraction claims that a million visitors a year view its displays. In 2008, the site was closed for major refurbishments at a cost of £5 million, which were completed in January 2009. Among the additions included a new glass tunnel, Shark Walk, revamped Pacific Ocean tank and a complete rerouting of the exhibit.
It has a collection of water tanks showing around 400 species of fish. The aquarium includes three floors and 14 different zones beginning in the upper Atlantic, British harbour, Ray pool, Indian Ocean, mid-Pacific, Atlantic lower, temperate waters, Pacific, coral reef, invertebrates, tropical freshwater, Thames freshwater stream, rivers and ponds, upper, mangrove and rainforest). The Pacific and Atlantic zones both contain large tanks with numerous species; the Pacific tank contains Green sea turtles and the Atlantic various species of sharks such as Sand Tigers, Brown Sharks and Nurse Sharks.
The London Aquarium is involved in breeding and conservation projects.
In April 2008, the aquarium was purchased by the world's second-largest attractions operator, Merlin Entertainments for an undisclosed sum. The attraction officially became a Sea Life Centre in April 2009.

Interesting places in london (3)

London Eye
The London Eye is 135 meters high which makes it the world's tallest observation wheel. It has 32 capsules and carries around 10,000 visitors every day. The London Eye has become the most popular paid for UK visitor attraction, visited by over 3.5 million people a year. While traveling in complete safety you can see up to 40 kilometers away in all directions from each capsule.

St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral's world-famous Dome is an iconic feature of the London skyline but do go inside as there's so much to see. Glittering mosaics and elaborate stone carvings give St. Paul's a definite 'wow' factor. And that's without climbing up to the famous Whispering Gallery or higher still to the Stone Gallery or Golden Gallery for the amazing views.

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A trip around London’s markets
London is a gold mine for anyone looking for unusual and original items.For anyone looking for alternative shopping Camden town is heaven, an area which has kept its working class character. In the seventies and eighties it became a trendy area: Verlaine and Rimbaud lived there. The centre of life in this area is the market, which has increased in size and is open every day. It’s an excellent market for clothes, both new and second hand, records and all kinds of other objects. Whilst walking around Camden Town it is not rare to meet curiosity-seekers and all kinds of people, such as punks or dandys. Even on classic rainy days Camden town makes you cheerful and full of life; it is considered by many to be a place not to be missed when visiting London.Another lively market is the one situated in Portobello Road, where it is possible to find all kinds of antiques, as well as used records, antique clothes and jewels stalls. The best day to visit the market is Saturday, from early morning to circa 4.30 p.m.

Natural History and Geological Museum
This is where the natural history collections of Sir Slogane where moved to, which were the museum’s first collections. The museum is in a Victorian building designed by Alfred Waterhouse.The Natural History and Geological Museum is now one of the largest natural history museums in the world, with more than 65 million finds exhibited. In recent years the museum’s departments have been substituted by theme exhibitions, which bring together audio-visual and computerised aids with interactive mechanisms. In this way visits to the museum are transformed into an experience similar to the special effects of JurassicPark.

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Tower Bridge
It is the last bridge on the Thames in the urban area. It was designed by Sir Horace Jones in 1886, taking into consideration the need for aesthetic harmony with the Tower of London and the requirement of a structure which could be opened, thereby permitting the passage of ships. The building work was carried out through the collaboration of John Wolfe Barry and the engineer G.D. Stevenson. Seeing the bridge being opened is now a rare sight. The Tower Bridge Museum tells the history and functioning of the bridge. The entrance to the Tower is from the northern bank of the river; there is a glass covered pedestrian walkway which takes you to the other side of the river; the view is impressive. Tower Bridge is one of the symbols of London and it offers a indescribable sight, in particular at night when thousands of lights from the City make it even more beautiful.
National Gallery
The National Gallery has become a unique museum in the world because of the decision to exhibit its entire collection. In fact, visiting any one of its halls gives you a complete journey is the history of European Art in the XIII and XIX centuries. The second criteria for selecting the works of art was in fact that of promoting an understanding of the development of the different artistic schools and periods through the main works of art of the great masters.
The National Gallery is in a neoclassical building which occupies all of the northern side of Trafalgar Square. The museum’s original collection was made up of 38 paintings, bought by the English government in 1824. Subsequent purchases have brought the number of art works in the current collection to a total of circa 2000. In the National Gallery it is possible to admire, just to drop a few names, masterpieces of the Florentine Renaissance (Masaccio, Gentile da Fabriano, Lorenzo Monaco) and fourth century Sienese art works, not to mention Caravaggio paintings and other sixth century Italian paintings.




Buckingham Palace – The changing of the Guard
we highly recommend going to see one of the spectacular Changing of the Guard ceremonies. The changing of the guard takes place in front of Buckingham Palace, in front of the Horse Guards Palace and at St. James Palace. The most spectacular one is undoubtedly the one which takes place in front of Buckingham Palace. The new Guard, normally belonging to one of the Foot Guard’s (infantry) five regiments, with its scarlet uniforms and tall bearskin hats, line up in the Wellington Barracks courtyard in Birdcage Walk, at 10:45 a.m., to then march to the palace for the changing of the guards at 11.27 a.m.