Great Britain

In London there are several parks. One of them deserves special attention - it is Hyde Park, a famous natural park in the West End. Originally there was open country here: but Henry VIII, in order to preserve it for his own hunting and hawking, fenced in a large tract. A century later Charles 1 opened it to the public, and it has ever since been a "people's" park.

Many English families live in flats, but most live in their own houses.

On the ground-floor they usually have the dining-room, the sitting-room, the kitchen, and the hall. In the hall there is a stand for hats, coats and umbrellas. A staircase leads from the hall to the landing on the first floor. On this floor there are bedrooms, a bathroom and a lavatory.

The Royal Opera House at Covent Garden (known to most theatre-goers as The Garden) stands not far away from one of the most famous of London streets, the Strand, in the West End. It is the best opera house in Europe with one of the finest orchestras.

The name "Covent" comes from "Convent", a nunnery. In the Middle Ages the area near Bow Street was occupied by a convent and now the name alone keeps up the memory. After King Henry VIII closed the convent, the area turned into a very beautiful place with fashionable houses all round it.

Great changes took place in social life of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558 - 1603). England turned from a secondary European power, which unofficially participated in piracy on high-seas, into a first-rate naval power after defeating the Great Spanish Armada in 1588.

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Changing the Guard
Nearby the Buckingham Palace are the Chelsea and Wellington Barracks where the Household Guards are quartered. It is from there that they march through the streets, through the Northern gate into the Palace court. The Guards are led by a drum major under the tattoo of drums and band.

Union Jack
This is the popular name commonly given to Union Flag, the national flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is formed by the combining on a blue ground the red cross of St. George (red on white) and the white and red diagonal crosses of St. Andrew and St. Patrick, the traditional patron saints of England, Scotland and Ireland.