MEMORIES:
knitngurl remembers...I lived in London for a year when I was a kid. I loved it so much, the museums, the ... More »
Posted on 12/22/07
PHOTOS:
"When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford." James Boswell
One of the greatest cities in the world for history, culture, fashion, art, business, flair, and quite literally anything else a person could want, London stands out on the globe as a seeming vortex of all things human - past, present, and future. It's a city that grew almost in spite of itself. A mere ten years after the Romans founded it (as Londinium) at the dawn of the Christian Era, the Iceni queen Boudica led her Brythonic warriors in an uprising against Roman occupation and sacked London, burning it to the ground.
Still, the spirit of the city was undeterred as London sprouted again some forty years later and over the next couple of centuries, grew considerably. But with the collapse of the Roman Empire came the decline of London, and by the 400's, she was largely abandoned. Two hundred years later, the next incarnation of London, known as Lundenwic to the inhabiting Anglo-Saxons was sacked and razed by Viking hordes. King Alfred the Great finally established relative peace for London despite Viking raids that would continue for centuries. The relentless London persevered, surviving everything from corrupt royals to German blitzkriegs to stand today as home to more than fourteen million people who speak some three hundred languages between them.
As a center for learning, London is home to not one but several of the most famous universities in the world, including the University of London, Brunel University, City University, London Metropolitan University, Middlesex University, and the University of Westminster. Of course, who could forget the rich history of excellence in the performing arts, inspired by the Central School of Speech and Drama, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Museums boasted by the city vary between the scientific (the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum), the historic (the British Museum), and the artistic (the National Gallery, Tate Britain, and Tate Modern). And for entertainment, London is arguably second to none. From the Piccadilly Circus to Royal Albert Hall, London features something for all tastes. Even the neighborhoods have a flavor, from the pageantry of Covent Garden to the commerce of Oxford Street. London was not only the home of some of histories greatest artists and writers, but also their inspiration. From William Shakespeare down through Charles Dickens, from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and continuing past George Orwell, London has witnessed the scripting of some of Western civilization’s finest works.
London has been a cultural hub for everything from opera to rock 'n' roll. It is host to the oldest tennis competition in the world, Wimbledon, as well as the world’s premier annual soccer competitions. In 2012, London will host the Games of the XXX Olympiad, the first time in history that a city will host the Summer Olympics for a third time.
