18 Fun Facts about the UKBy Grace A.Sunday, May 31st, 2009

Is everything about the UK always about the ‘stiff upper lip’ (идиома — дрежаться молодцом)? Not quite! Here are some of the lighter aspects of the people and the place.

Drinking in an English Bar

1. In England, in pubs or bars, you can have drinks but you are not allowed to get drunk; and in Scotland you are on the wrong side of the law if you are drunk.

The “Tube”

2. In London the tube route from Leicester Square to Covent Garden is the most popular tube route for tourists despite the fact that it is actually quicker to cover this distance on foot!

3. The tube system, despite being the first and the largest underground system in the world, is also the most unreliable (ненадежный) and the costliest (дорогих).

4. The 409 escalators in the London subway cover a distance every week which is approximately (приблизительно) equivalent to several trips around the globe!

Royal Eccentrics (Королевские странности)

5. Not surprisingly, it is considered one of the strangest historical facts that Berengaria of Navarre, who was married to King Richard of England, had never once stepped on English soil (не ступила на землю)!

6. Did you know that the Windsor Castle is the oldest royal residence in the world that is still being used by the royal family and that the Buckingham Palace was built in 1702 on the site of an infamous brothel (бордель)!

7. It is also believed to be haunted (посящаемый) by many ghosts including those of Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth I, King George, and Charles I.

8. The Queen of England, who once enjoyed extensive powers and authority over almost the whole world, and despite all her present majesty (величество) and glory (слава), is not allowed to enter the House of Commons (палата Общин) simply because she is not its member!

9. And in medieval England even animals were tried (их пытали!) in royal courts and punished for damages (урон, ущерб) they inflicted (нанести) on people or their properties (собаственность)!

Tea Drinking

10. The English are tea addicts (наркоманы): an Englishman drinks more tea than any person of any other nation (over twenty times more than Americans!). 

I wonder and Russians?)

Big Ben is not a clock

11. Contrary to popular belief that Big Ben refers (относиться к) to the world famous clock, it is actually the name of the thirteen ton bell. The tower itself is known as St. Stephen’s Tower.

Where do they come from?

12. That London is one of the cities with the high cultural diversity (разнообразие) in the world, can be gauged (насчитывать) from the fact that about 25% of the inhabitants (жители) of London were born outside of England!

London, London

13. One of the most well-known theatres of The United Kingdom is the Theatre Royal Bristol that has been continuously staging (постоянно показывают) “Cats” since 1766!

14. Did you know that London has had many names in the past? It was called Londonium during the Roman Invasion (вторжение), Ludenwic in Saxon times, and Ludenburg during the kingdom of Alfred the Great.

15. The London Eye is the tallest observation wheel (колесо обозрения) in the world and each rotation takes about 30 minutes.

(Хм, оно всего-то 135 метров, а вот в Сингапуре — 165 метров.)

16. The treasures contained in the British Museum span two million years of world civilization.

The bridge that fell down 1000 years ago

17. You must have heard the “London Bridge is falling down” nursery rhyme. Did you know that this rhyme might be over a thousand years old? The Saxons destroyed London Bridge using boats and ropes to tear it down. People think that is how the rhyme originated.

18. Did you know that the River Thames, which flows through London, has over 200 bridges and 20 tunnels?

А вот забавное видео о British Stereotypes