There is a lot of smaller parks & gardens all over London.
THE WEST END – is a fashionable & entertaiment district of London. There is Mayfair – upper class London stretching to Hyde park. The rich of london live there. The best & most expencive clubs, restaurants & theatres, beautiful parks & houses are there. A good starting point for any tour of London is Trafalgar Square with the Nelson monument in the centre of it. Behind is the National Gallery & joined to it is the National Portrait Gallery, containing pictures of almost every famous English man or woman. Along there is a Strand (once the Bank of the Thames) leading to Fleet street, the heart of British ‘newspaperland’. All the newspapers have their offices there. To the west is Piccadilly Circus is with its clubs, big hotels & shops. The area around Piccadilly Circus is called ‘theatreland’ with its numerous theatres & cinemas. Here are also big shopping centres – Regent Street,Bond Street, & Oxford Street. Between Piccadilly & Oxford Street is the area known as Soho with narrow streets, markets & small shops. Soho is a foreign quarter: a great many foreigns live there. THE EAST END – is inhabited mostly by the working class. If one speaks of the city as the ‘money’ of London & the West End is the ‘goods’ then the East End is the ‘hands’ of London. Here people live in poor, old, teeming houses & slums & they call themselves Cockneys (the true Londoners). The Cockney is proud that he is not wealthy & certainly not an aristocrat. They have their own peculiar dialect.
WESTMINSTER – is to the south-west of the City. It is an aristocratic, pompously official area, the administrative centre of London. Here are diffrent ministries like the Home Office, Foreign Office & the War Office. This is where Downing Street is situated. Number 10, Downing Street is the official residence of the Prime Minister of Britain. It is here that all Cabinet meetings take place. Westminster Abbey is regarded as the centre of the Westminster area. This is an ancient church (11th century), rebuilt many times. Many great Englishmen are buried there. Opposite Westminster Abbey the Houses of Parliament can be seen. It is a beautiful building built in the Gothic style with two towers & a very big clock with chimes called Big Ben. To the west of Westminster abbey we can see Buckingham Palace, the royal residence, now the residence of Queen Elisabeth II. Every morning the changing of the royal guard takes place to the sound of a brass band, words of command & the clatter of heels on the courtyard stones.