London’s skatepark becomes national heritage site
No more “mind the gap” in the new London trains
Last week, London unveiled the new cars to the public for the first time, and when the trains finally hit the tracks starting in the mid-2020s, they’ll bring an appreciable list of improvements to riders.
With the new design, you’ll be able to walk the entire length of the train, which frees up lots of space that was wasted just from closing off individual cars in the past. The entrances are now all evenly spaced and feature double-wide doors, which means it should be a lot faster to get on and off the trains. And you won’t have to “mind the gap” anymore: the cars are all shorter, which makes the trains more flexible and able to come much closer to the platform edge. READ MORE
London Underground Fascinating Facts
150 fascinating tube facts:
1. There is only one Tube station which does not have any letters of the word ‘mackerel’ in it: St John’s Wood.
2. The average speed on the Underground is 20.5 miles per hour including station stops.
3. During the three-hour morning peak, the busiest Tube station is Waterloo, with around 57,000 people entering. READ MORE
London’s Floating Cafe, The Waterside
The Waterside is a floating café in a picturesque setting with swans, geese and ducks in the neighborhood called Little Venice in London.
As London’s only floating cafe, if you are looking for a unique place to enjoy food and drinks with loved ones or friends, The Waterside Cafe is an ideal choice.
Catch a movie in bed…at the theater!
You may have heard about an event a few years ago where the Parisian music hall Olympia was filled with beds from Ikea to promote the Swedish company’s new line-up of mattresses. A small group of lucky people were allowed to come and roll around in style while watching movies on the big screen.
However, did you know that there are some theaters out there with full beds for your movie-watching needs, and one such a theater is The Electric Cinema located in the Notting Hill district?
The Electric Cinema is the best possible environment in which to enjoy movies., Electric’s classiest feature, besides its sixty-five leather armchair seats, are three 2-seater sofas at the rear of the theatre and six double beds in the front row, where you can watch your film in comfort (they also provide individual cashmere blankets :)).
Explore England in the Age of Shakespeare
Happy 450th birthday William Shakespeare!
Today 23rd April is widely regarded as William Shakespeare’s birthday. Shakespeare is one of the most well known and influential playwrights of our time. Though little is known about William Shakespeare’s personal life, his works such as “Hamlet,” “Romeo and Juliet,” and “King Lear,” have influenced literature and theater for over 400 years.
Most of us will have quoted the playwright thousands of times without knowing it. Ever been “in a pickle” or had “too much of a good thing”? Perhaps friends have “eaten (you) out of house and home” or had you “in stitches” over a joke. These are just a handful of well-used sayings that come courtesy of Shakespeare. READ MORE
UK and London in the Highest Resolution (VIDEO)
This archive of England 4K footage was created by the award winning team of specialized cinematographers and colorists from Creative Media Group.
Their award winning stock footage archive of England 4K contains many never-before-seen stock footage shots. While processing this England 4K footage the CMG team of creative professionals developed proprietary work-flows and innovative techniques that allowed them to pull out rich vibrant colors and process ultra high-resolution video content. Some of this England 4K footage was created by specially programmed and engineered pieces of patent-pending technology.
London Facts to Challenge Even the Cleverest Language Travelers
1. The Houses of Parliament are officially known as the Palace of Westminster and it is the largest palace in the country.
2. The Palace of Westminster has eight bars (where prices are kept cheap, thanks to the taxpayer), six restaurants, 1,000 rooms, 100 staircases, 11 courtyards, a hair salon, and rifle-shooting range. READ MORE
Ducks at Buckingham Palace
1960s.
A London Bus stops for a London Bus
A postcard from the 1960s.
London in Fog
The Metropolitan Police’s Air Support Unit just shared the brilliant photo on its Twitter account. This is what London’s Canary Wharf looks like from above today:
The dense fog covering much of southeast England reduced visibility to 50 meters (164 feet) in places, delaying flights at Heathrow and London City airports.
Here’s another shot, with the spikes of the O2 Arena barely visible
Magical Interactive Billboard (VIDEO)
Courtesy of a little digital magic, the boy in this poster knows when it’s a British Airways plane. And that really is the actual flight number and where it’s flying in from.
London’s First Winter Snowfall – the Snow Globe
London’s first winter snowfall lands in Covent Gardens West Piazza to celebrate the launch of the worlds first LEGO Snow Globe.
Over 3 metres tall and made from 120,000 bricks, the Snow Globe features a festive scene of London including Buckingham Palace, the Globe theatre and the Shard and will be open to the public from November 14th to December 22nd.
Photo: Jeff Moore
Language Travel to London – Whitehall and the Churchill War Rooms (VIDEO)
We continue to make London come alive with our language programs, as well as wonderful stories and videos made by famous Rick Steves, one of the main supporters of our communication and language network. This week in our London Language Travel, we explore Whitehall, one of Britain’s most significant streets.
READ MORELanguage Travel Guide to London – South Bank Sites and the Tate Modern
Verbalists Language Travel Guide to London
We continue to make London come alive with its language programs and wonderful stories and videos made by famous Rick Steves, one of the main supporters of our communication and language network. This week we explore the South Bank sites.
READ MORE