A trip to London

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Knowing we would never hear the end of it if we went to London and didn't check out at least one more London museum, we headed for the National Gallery, which houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings. It is in the square where many Londoners listen to the midnight chimes of Big Ben on New Year’s Eve.
WHAT IS THE NAME OF THIS SQUARE?
WHAT HUGE ITEM, GIVEN BY NORWAY, IS ERECTED IN THIS SQUARE ABOUT THE 6TH OF DECEMBER EACH YEAR?
WHAT FAMOUS COLUMN IS THERE IN THIS SQUARE?
WHAT DOES IT COMMEMORATE?
WHAT CHURCH IS ALSO THERE, AT THE NORTH-EAST CORNER?

After our visit to the Gallery, we took the Strand, a famous street that goes from Trafalgar Square to the City, where it changes its name (just at the point where the old Temple Bar gateway used to be).
WHAT NAME DOES IT TAKE IN THE CITY?

The City is the name of the oldest part of London. This is the area where the Romans founded Londinium, and it was surrounded by a wall for a long time. To a Brit, the 'City' doesn't mean the whole of London but simply the 'Square Mile' (actually 1.08 square miles) as it is colloquially known. It is the financial heart of London, and is very busy during working hours but, on a weekend, the majority of ancient streets are empty and silent. Here you will find the very heart of London: the original settlement from which the rest of London has sprawled. The people who were born in the City are called Cockneys, and they say that they are the real Londoners.
ACCORDING TO TRADITION, WHO ARE THE ONLY REAL COCKNEYS?

In 1666, there was a big tragedy: a great fire devastated the City. It is known as the Great Fire of London.
WHERE DID IT START?

The fire had one positive effect: it solved a serious problem that had been going on since 1665.
WHAT PROBLEM WAS IT?

The fire destroyed the medieval city, most of whose buildings were made of timber (wood).
WHAT MATERIAL DID THEY USE TO REBUILD THE CITY AFTER THE FIRE?
WHAT MATHEMATICIAN, ASTRONOMER, PHYSICIST AND ENGINEER WAS COMMISSIONED TO DESIGN AND OVERSEE THE CONSTRUCTION OF OVER 50 CHURCHES AND THE NEW ST PAUL’S CATHEDRAL AFTER THE GREAT FIRE?
WHAT MARKS THE SPOT WHERE THE GREAT FIRE STARTED?

Once we arrived in the City, we headed for its very famous cathedral, which has the second largest dome in the world after St Peter’s in Rome.
WHAT CATHEDRAL IS IT?

The cathedral has been the site of important events.
WHOSE FUNERAL TOOK PLACE THERE IN 1965?
WHO GOT MARRIED THERE IN 1981?

In the cathedral, we climbed to a gallery, famous for its acoustics, where whispers echo.
WHAT DO THEY CALL THIS GALLERY?

After leaving the cathedral, we crossed the river to go to Tate Modern, a museum of modern art built in an old power station on the south bank of the Thames.
WHAT MODERN PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE, BUILT AS A PART OF THE CITY’S MILLENNIUM CELEBRATIONS, DID WE CROSS?
WHO DESIGNED IT?

Tate Modern is situated in an area called Bankside. Because of its location outside the jurisdiction of the City of London, the area developed as a location for activities and entertainment that were prohibited, and was the location of a theatre partially owned by Willliam Shakespeare, which burnt to the ground in 1613.
WHAT THEATRE WAS IT?

Although it was rebuilt the following year, the Puritans – who didn’t believe in such entertainment – closed it down in 1642, and it was destroyed in 1644 to make way for homes. It wasn’t until excavation work was being done in 1989 that the original location of the theatre was finally revealed. In 1997 a reconstruction of the theatre, built according with Elizabethan plans, opened 200 yards (183 metres) from the original site. It was the first building with a thatched roof allowed to be built in London since the Great Fire of 1666. It is not a museum, but a real theatre where plays are performed, but only in the summer.
WHY AREN’T THERE ANY PLAYS DURING THE REST OF THE YEAR?

After looking around the theatre, we decided to take a stroll up the river. When we arrived at the Jubilee Gardens, we saw a giant wheel right by Westminster Bridge.
WHAT IS IT CALLED?

After the wonderful views of London we had from the top of the wheel, we decided it was time for a rest – back to the hotel!