Culturally London

Quite a lot of people have striven to define ‘Englishness’ and failed in fact English culture is really a mixed culture, having assimilated the best from many other cultures. Racially the English are Celts, Romans, Vikings, Saxons, Normans, with a handful of lesser traits thrown in for good measure. The colonial past has made the city more cosmopolitan than any other. Class is still often more important than color, though its boundaries shift with the winds. The English have always admired foreigners, and have imported other cultures, languages and foods, giving them a unique turn. The main distinguishing trait of the English is the aplomb. The stiff upper lip and the seeming endless capacity to put up with the unspeakable was given a boost during the blitz when Londoners faced the might of the Nazi bombing campaign and terrible hardships with a cheerfulness that was almost pathological. London is one of the most cosmopolitan places in the world. Where else can you order breakfast in Farsi, book a taxi in Urdu, ask for afternoon coffee in Arabic and spend the evening chatting with your friends in Cantonese? Over 300 languages are spoken in this very city. London is certainly the capital for multicultural events and festivals, and hosts the biggest celebrations for the Chinese, Sikh, Bengali and Hindu New Years. London also boasts some of the greatest festivals in the world , one can witness anything from Turkish belly dancers to 4 x 4 Bhangra dancers, Bharatanatyam dancers to flamenco dancers and Russian classical ballet to Mexican Folklorico. Students play a crucial role in making London so dynamic and your experience in this city will provide one with a network of friends from all over the world. London offers a fantastic diversity of population and supports a myriad of different lifestyles.People of all ages and backgrounds flock to London for many different reasons. They include improved work prospects, better wages, a higher standard of living and the stimulation of living in a bustling metropolis. The city’s lifestyles vary considerably and the options are endless. From nightlife to sport, shopping to theatre, art to dining there’s always something to do and people to meet. London’s long-standing ethnic diversity is an important factor in its popularity with settlers from overseas. The strong economy of the City draws many people including graduates from around the country and beyond. The presence of large numbers of long- and short-term visitors also adds to London’s vibrancy. As with all big cities, there can be issues with traffic congestion, crowded public transport, long working hours and high costs of living but there are ample compensations and ongoing improvements on many fronts. London is frequently likened to a collection of villages. Clusters of local shops, markets, parks, leisure centers and other venues help foster a feeling of local community within a conurbation of seven million people. Some areas have a particularly strong identities and associations making London a world in one city. The capital continues to draw newcomers all the time and it is a city that is always changing.

Kensington Palace London Guide

Kensington Palace in London is a working Royal residence. Of great historical importance, Kensington Palace was the favorite residence of successive sovereigns until 1760. It was also the birthplace and childhood home of Queen Victoria. Today Kensington Palace accommodates the offices and private apartments of a number of members of the Royal Family. Although managed by Historic Royal Palaces, the Palace is furnished with items from the Royal Collection.

Today Kensington contains the offices and London residences of The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, The Duke and Duchess of Kent and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. Princess Margaret, Diana, Princess of Wales and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester used to live in Kensington Palace and have their offices there.

Kensington Palace stands at the western end of Kensington Gardens and is perhaps the finest building in the Borough. Originally called Nottingham House, it passed into royal ownership in 1689 when it was acquired by William and Mary.

After William III's death in 1702 the palace became the residence of Queen Anne. Wren designed the Orangery for her and a 30-acre garden was laid out by Henry Wise. Further extensive alterations were carried out for George I and William Kent painted the elaborate trompe l'oeil ceilings and staircases. The last monarch to live at Kensington Palace was George II, whose consort, Caroline of Ansbach, influenced the development of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. For her, Charles Bridgman created the Serpentine, the Basin and Grand Vista and the Broad Walk.

Early one morning in June 1837 Princess Victoria, who was occupying apartments in Kensington Palace, awoke to the news that she was Queen of England. She immediately moved to Buckingham Palace. Kensington Palace first opened to the public in 1912 with a display of relics and objects relating to the City of London. It attracted 13,000 visitors in just one day. The museum pieces now form part of the collection at the Museum of London. Visitors today can see the State Apartments, the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection that includes outfits from the 18th century to the present day, the Orangey and sunken gardens.

The palace was the London home of Diana, Princess of Wales and is still home to several other members of the Royal Family. The State Apartments and the Court Dress Collection are open to the public and highlights of a visit include the recently restored Kings Apartments and a magnificent collection of paintings. The Court Dress Collection includes a fabulous and very rare court mantua made sometime between 1750-53 and the 'exploded' gentleman's outfit - everything from underclothes to fine lace cuffs and all part of the elaborate costume worn to Court by an 18th century gentleman. The Orangey Cafe adjacent to the Palace serves light lunches and snacks throughout the year.

Victoria & Albert Museum

Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone of the Museum on 17th May 1899. The Victoria & Albert has a collection of more than 4 million objects. The Victoria & Albert Museum in London is the world's largest museum of the decorative arts and has 146 galleries, including national collections of sculpture, furniture, fashion and photographs. It also houses the National Art Library. The Victoria & Albert also manage the Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood, the Wellington Museum at Apsley House and the Theatre Museum in Covent Garden.

The Victoria & Albert is the world’s greatest museum of art and design. The Museum is renowned for the immense diversity of its collections, which embrace furniture, fashion, textiles, paintings, silver, glass, ceramics, jewellery, books, prints and photographs. Housed in magnificent Victorian buildings, these collections illustrate the artistic life of many different cultures, from European to South East Asian, American to Islamic, over hundreds of generations.

The museum has been housed in Aston Webb’s grand building since 1909. The building has a impressive facade and main entrance. As the museum grew new buildings were erected when needed. Many of these buildings were intended to be semi-permanent exhibition halls but all have survived and represent one of the finest groups of Victorian buildings in the country. The Victoria & Albert has around four million exhibits from all periods and areas of the world. The 145 of galleries cover ten acres and are spread over four floors.

The Art and Design galleries are arranged by themes and by place and date, for example the Materials & Techniques galleries are arranged by the type of material. The six-storey Henry Cole Wing holds the Victoria & Albert’s collection of paintings, drawings and prints. In 2001 the restored British Galleries reopened to the public. These cover British art and design from 1500 - 1900 and include James II’s wedding suit and the Great Bed of Ware. The Victoria & Albert, which held its first photographic exhibition in 1858, is also the home of the National Collection of Art of Photography. The Canon Photography Gallery has regularly changing displays.

The fifteen galleries of the Victoria & Albert Museum tell the story of British design from the Tudor period to the Victorian era and display the Victoria & Albert’s unrivalled collection of historic British furniture, textiles, dress, ceramics, glass, jewellery, silver, prints, paintings and sculpture. Every major name in the history of British design is represented, including Grinling Gibbons, Robert Adam, William Morris and Charles Rennie Mackintosh as well as workshops and manufacturers such as the Mortlake tapestry works, Spitalfields silks weaving workshops, Wedgwood, Doulton and Liberty.

The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, has started work on a new jewellery gallery that is planned to open in 2008. Jewels from 2000 sc to the present, drawn from a pool of five thousand, will include an ancient Egyptian hippopotamus, Elizabethan pendants, Marie Antoinette's bracelet clasps, jewels owned by Napoleon and Catherine the Great, as well as this nineteenth-century English bodice ornament, a diamond bouquet of roses, a carnation, a chrysanthemum and a fuchsia, set on springs so they tremble as the wearer moves.

The transformation of the British Galleries is the Victoria & Albert’s largest project for over half a century and with over 3000 exhibits on display in magnificent new surroundings, the result is a truly exceptional experience not to be missed.

A Princess Memorial

Diana, Princess of Wales' Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park. Unveiled in July, 2004 with both the late Diana’s family and the royal family including Queen Elizabeth II present, the $6.5 million memorial to the late Princess of Wales is designed by American architect Karen Gustafson. The oval fountain of 545 blocks of Cornish granite - a ring of water likened to a miniature race course near the Serpentine Bridge- has water flowing down both sides for both agitated and calming effects.

The fountain was built with the best materials, talent and technology, and is the result of an impressive, wide reaching project. It was decided in 1999 that a public memorial should be erected to her memory and so the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain Committee was formed, led by Rosa Monckton, a friend of the Princess. Some three years and ten thousand competing designs later, two ideas were chosen from which the winning fountain would be selected. The entry of American designers Gustafon Porter won the vote over that of British artist Anish Kapoor.

The philosophy behind the Gustafon Porter design was that the fountain should express the concept of ‘Reaching out - Letting In’, in order to symbolize Diana’s inclusiveness and accessibility. The presence of the fountain surrounded by open landscape was intended to create an energy which radiates outwards while at the same time draws people towards it, again reflecting the essential nature of Diana.

From its source, water runs down the fountain in two directions, the east side featuring richly textured steps which the water bounces down before passing under a crossing point to the rock and roll section where it gentle rocks and rolls along a subtle curve. Before entering the reflection pool at the bottom of the fountain, this east-track of water passes through the  swoosh - a subtle curve where water jets create patterns in, and pump additional energy into the water.

Water which follows the western channel of the fountain ring firstly passes over the highly textured surface of the Mountain Stream where it dances in a lively play of water before passing under a crossing point then onto the bubbles section where the channel widens out and air bubbles are introduced. The water then becomes a tumbling cascade of white water as it corners over a waterfall. Western channel water then spills over the elaborately carved chadder before tumbling into the reflecting pool where it's re-united with water from the eastern channel.

The water for the fountain is drawn from London's water table and is continuously refreshed. The Princess Diana Memorial Fountain proved to be massively popular with adults and children alike, just like the Princess herself. Such was the demand to interact with the fountain that it had to be closed for a short time just 16 days after it was opened. This was partly following a number of people slipping in the water flow, partly to identify a means of handling the huge demand in a manner which would preserve the site in a sustainable way while allowing appropriate access.