informal Letter

Dear Sofia, 

                                                                                         

   Hi! How are you doing? Sorry for not writing so long. I want to tell you about Gr. Britain. Now I'm in London, this city is full of inspired! 

in the gr. britain many places of interest! there are london eye, big ben, stonehenge and so on.

London eye

London eye is the tallest ferris wheel in europe that is located on the banks of the river thames in the capital of england, london. it was designed by a team of seven architects. the height of this structure is 135 meters. london eye was erected in 1999 as the tallest ferris wheel in the world, until it was surpassed by two other observation wheels in nanchang and singapore. it is the most popular attraction of the english capital, attended by over 3.5 mln. tourists annually. at the worst point of the global economic recession in 2009 this thameside attraction made over £25 mln. in profit.*** the wheel carries 32 sealed, air-conditioned, egg-shaped cabins, each of them can hold up to 25 people. a predecessor of london eye was the great wheel built in 1895, modelled on the famous ferris wheel in chicago. the great wheel was 94 meters high, stayed in service until 1906 and was demolished in 1907.

Big Ben

Perhaps even small children know what a big ben is. firstly, it’s the symbol of great britain and one of the most beautiful sights of london. secondly, it’s the largest and the most famous clock in the world. originally, big ben is a tower. it’s one of the highest towers of westminster palace. officially, the clock has started its work on 31 may 1859. according to one of the theories the clock has been named big ben after sir benjamin hall, who directed work on the casting of the bell. another theory claims that it has been named after benjamin caunt, who was one of the well-known heavyweight boxers of the 19th century. surprisingly, the tower of big ben used to be a prison where over riotous parliamentarians were kept. big ben has become a popular souvenir for tourists. almost all visitors of london buy a small souvenir in the shape of the world-famous clock. also big ben can be often seen in famous films and ads. official name of the tower is the “westminster palace clock tower” or “st. stephen's tower”. big ben is only the name of the clock itself along with the bell. the history of big ben dates back to 1288, when it was built for the first time on ralph de hengham’s money. he was the chairman of the supreme court of queen's bench. however, the contemporary tower of big ben was built according to charles barry’s project in the 19th century, as the old building was destroyed due to the fire of 1834. although big ben is very popular with spectators, no one is allowed inside of the tower. all the londoners who live close to big ben can hear how the bell strikes thirteen at new year’s night.

Stonehenge

the stonehenge stone circles are in england. people transported the first stones to this place about 5000 years ago. we don't know a lot about stonehenge. who built it? how did they build it? why did they build it? it's a mystery.

people built stonehenge with bluestones and sarsen stones. there were about 80 bluestones. they came from mountains 250 kilometers away. they are very heavy – some weigh about 4 metric tons. the sarsen stones are even bigger and heavier. about 4000 years ago, people transported them from 30 kilometers away.

how did people use stonehenge? maybe they used it as a cemetery or a place for studying the sun and the stars. maybe it was also a temple. it's still a special place for some people today. every year, on june 21st, lots of people go to stonehenge to celebrate the longest day of the year.