Things you might not have known about London
I was quite intrigued to discover a German ex-pat site about living in London.
My German is not that great, but the article listing “facts about London” provides for some interesting reading. According to our German friends living in London:
* There are 7.2 million people living in London, speaking more than 300 languages
* There are more than 6 000 restaurants and 5 000 pubs in London
* I’m not sure I’m translating it correctly, but apparently it’s illegal to have sex in a parked vehicle. (?)
There are some other interesting facts, like the fact that London has more than 20 000 black cabs, and that there were thousands of signal failures on the tube last year etc. Anyone here who can read better German than me and would like to perhaps tell us more about some of the other interesting ones are welcome.
Speaking of the tube, apparently it is generally healthier to smoke five cigarettes a day than to travel for one hour a day on the London Underground. (Not on the German site, this was somewhere else.)
And there I am trying to give up. Hmm. Either way, I saw quite a few comments posted about my no-smoking effort and pending appointment with the hypnotherapist. Don’t worry, anonymous, I WANT to give up smoking. I just need a bit of help :)
By the way, I could not get an appointment this week (phew) but am booked for Tuesday. I’ll let you know how it went.
– Riaan
London
vienna metblog to the rescue :
1. london has 7,2 million inhabitants, speaking over 300 languages.
2. the worlds’ first traffic sign was placed near the house of commons in 1868. a year later it exploded.
3. london has over 6000 restaurants and over 5000 pubs.
4. in london, it’s illegal to have sex on a parked motorcycle.
5. one third of london consists of green areas or parks, making london the greenest city in it’s size-category (the greenest city with more than a million inhabitants in the world being, correct, vienna ;) )
6. the exact center point of london is at the church st. martin-in-the-fields.
7. the death penalty for treason was abolished in 1998.
8. the millenium dome was the largest construction of it’s type and one of london’s biggest financial disasters.
9. the postal adress “1 london” belongs to apsley house, the former residence of the duke of wellington.
10. of of four londoners belongs to what is called an ethic minority. (whatever that is.)
11. brixton market was englands first electrically powered market, and where is it located? right, on electric avenue.
12. london has about 20.000 black cabs.
13. the houses of parliament have over 1000 rooms, 100 stairs. 3 kilometers of halls, 8 bar s and 6 restaurants.
14. the crown estate (in other words her majesty the queen) is the biggest land owner in central london.
15. the zebra crossing was invented in london.
16. london has 183 synagogues, 130 mosques and 37 hindu temples.
17. notting hill has the worlds second largest carnival after rio de janeiro.
18. daniel galvin on george street in marylebone owns europe’s largest hairdresser’s shop.
19. the palace of westminster was built next to water for security reasons, so that a mob could not completely surround it.
20. london was the world’s first city with more than a million inhabitants. that was in 1811.
21.in 2002, 16.000 homes priced
you’re welcome :)