Entertainment in London

The variety of entertainment in London is described by the famous words of Samuel Johnson “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life: for there is in London all that life can afford”.

Every age has its own place to spend free time, so often the only problem is how to decide what to see and where to go.

London is great for culture hunters, as it is packed with fine museums and galleries.

The British Museum is London’s largest; it contains an outstanding collection of Egyptian, Greek and Roman arts. If you are interested in applied arts, you may visit the Victoria and Albert museum. Just next door to it is the Natural History Museum, which is especially popular with children, as they may find there touch-screen games, working displays of their own insides and dinosaur exhibitions. You can also bring your camera to Madam Tussaud’s and make photos with waxworks of famous celebrities.

London is equally rich in art galleries, from the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square with its fine collection of European art, to the smaller galleries, such as the Wallace Collection which has the great representation of 18 century French art. The Tate Gallery houses the national collection of British painting, and modern sculpture. There are galleries which cater far different tastes.

If you’d rather see a bit of London greenery, you can enjoy the delights of London’s parks, green islands of peace in the middle of the noisy sea. The best-known parks are, of course, the central ones: St. James Park, Hyde Park, Regent’s Park, and Kensington Gardens. They have many attractions. Hyde Park has the Serpentine, a little lake, where you can swim, and Speakers’ Corner, where you can get up and say anything you want (or almost anything). In Regent’s Park there are the Zoo and the Open-Air Theatre. Kensington Gardens has the Round Pond where “dry land sailors” of all ages sail every kind of model yacht. St. James’s Park boasts a truly elegant lake on which live a great variety of ducks.

If you feel like being entertained, you can’t leave London without visiting the West End area. As it is London’s entertainment and theatre district, where you can find over 40 theatres. The Covent Garden is famous for opera and ballet performances. The Barbican Centre is home to the Royal Shakespeare Company in London. Hare a magnificent programme of Shakespeare’s productions, famous classics and challenging new plays is on show all year round.

The National Theatre, with its 3 separate theatres under one roof, stages both classical and modern plays.

If you want to see something different you may drop at the clubs, pubs and studios that put on experimental of avant-garde shows. This branch of the theatre is known as the “fringe”.

If you are a music-fan, London is the right city for you, as every night there are pop, rock, jazz and folk concerts in small clubs of huge stadiums like Wembley.

Night-life entertainment includes discos, night clubs, restaurants and pubs.

If you are a shopaholic, you should visit London’s busiest shopping district, which is formed by Oxford Street. Or you may do window-shopping, walking along Bond Street, which is a shopping in work. And of course, don’t miss a chance of going into the red-brick Mecca for spenders called Harrods.

No 16. Enumerate the most famous London's museums. Describe one of them. Explain the reasons for its popularity.

London is a repository of the world's artistic and historical treasures. In its many art galleries and museums, housed in elegant surroundings, one can see a fully comprehensive range of paintings, sculptures, archaeological discoveries, historical documents, manuscripts, the art and artifacts of mankind from the very beginning to the present time.

The British Museum is the world's largest and most important museum which is renowned for its large library, ancient manuscripts, prints and drawings.

The Victoria and Albert Museum, nicknamed V and A, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts: tapestries, costumes, jewelry and glassware.

The National Gallery draws a great number of visitors due to its collection of famous paintings by Goya, Van Dick, Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, Rubens, Titian.

The Tate Gallery specializes in XIX and XX c. art from both Europe and America, and British paintings of all the periods: the Elore Gallery is devoted to the work of Turner. It's considered to be delight of every visitors taste.

For those who have a fancy for natural sciences the National History Museum will be the best choice. It's one of the world's best collection of animal, mineral rock, fossil and plant specimens.

A considerable attention should be devoted to Madame Tussaud's museum which is one of the capital's top tourist attraction. You may find it strange but many find this museum gruesome and frightening. Others maintain that its collection of waxstatues has no artistic merit, but regardless these points of views, visitors wouldn't consider their trip to the capital worthwhile without a stop at the unusual wax work exhibition in Marylebone Road.

Madame Tussaud was French in origin and was herself a modeler of wax works in her uncle's waxwork museum in the French capital. It's said she perfected her skills by modeling the royal family of France. Despite the monarchist sentiments she managed to survive the French Revolution and the reign of terror that followed it. In 1802 she brought the collection, which she had by then inherited from her uncle, and her children to England. There she traveled the country for 33 years before setting in London's Marylebone area. In 1850, at the age of 89, she died peacefully in her sleep.

The exhibition consists of a series of halls. In the first hall there is the "Sleeping Beauty" figure, which has been cast from one of Madame Tussaud's oldest moulds, thought to have been made of Madame du Barry, Louis XV s mistress, with a mechanism that simulates breathing.

The 2^nd hall is known as the Conservatory, where visitors can view life-size wax models of sport, film and TV personalities. "Super Stars", opened in March 1985, is one of several areas at Madame Tussaud's to use sound, light and special effects.

Next to "Super Stars" is the Grand Hall. This room is peopled by historical, political, military and royal figures from Henry VIII and his wives to Rajiv Gandhi, Gorbachev, prime ministers of Britain and from abroad, the Royal Family, and the Duke and Duchess of York.

The next hall is undoubtedly the most famous of the waxworks rooms the Chamber of Horrors. Terrifying scenes follow terrifying scenes: there are models illustrating methods of execution; famous murderers in their appropriate settings; and, in the cells, the most infamous 20^th c. prisoners who were sentenced to life imprisonment for their vile crimes.

Madam Tussaud's Museum without any doubt, is great historical value, feeling the rhythmic and interrupting pulse of history. Tastes differ, that's why some people want to touch pages of historical heritage, meeting with people face-to-face. Others come here to be entertained. Many criticize parts of Madame Tussaud's for its horror and sensationalism. Yet, despite these criticisms, this museum has become world famous "institution", adding a great value to the cultural development of the country.

No 17. Touch upon the most prominent holidays, customs and traditions of Belarus and Great Britain. Comment on some typical customs and traditions. Prove they reflect the national character.

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