Eat Sleep Dreamers welcome to a very special vlog with me Tom because today I'm going to
teach you ten facts about London that you might not know. But I'm going to be doing
it from a bicycle. That's right we're going on a little cycling tour of London, we're
going to go and explore this beautiful city and learn a few things about it too. So if
you are ready, let's do this.
So we are starting our tour in Victoria Park. It's a beautiful
old park in East London. Incredibly green right now, looking magnificent. Ok, my first
fact, London was originally called Londinium. It was a Roman settlement in about 43 AD.
Now the original London was where the city of London is now. So whenever you come to
London and you see the Gherkin, Tower 42 all like the business district, that is where
the original London was formed.
Now as you may know London is a football city, we love
the sport and that's probably why there are six London teams in the Premier League. You've
got Tottenham, Arsenal, West Ham, Chelsea, Fulham and Crystal Palace. There are also
eleven London teams in England's top four professional divisions. That's a lot. If you
compare that with Paris. I believe Paris only has one team in their top league, we've got
six! That's quite impressive. Now I'm cycling around the West Ham stadium at the moment.
They moved in here a few years ago. It used to be the Olympic stadium where we hosted
the London 2012 games but as I say now they have turned it into a football stadium and
West Ham play their home games here. Let me know in the comments below, do you follow
a London team? Have you got a favourite? Tell me in the comments below.
Right, I'm now in the centre of London guys. As you can hear it's a little bit noisy. But
did you know this is not the only London in the world. There are several Londons all around
the world. For example there's one in Ontario, Canada. There's a London in, in fact there
are two Londons in Arkansas. There are several Londons in America. There is a London island
in Chile and there is a London in Nigeria. And I've been to them all, ok that isn't true.
Alright I've just stopped. I need to find a docking station. The thing is with these
bikes is that you hire them for half an hour and then every other half an hour you have
to pay a bit more. So if you return them within the half an hour, then it's free. So that's
what I'm going to do. I've stopped off in front of Monument which is a historical London
landmark. This is where the great fire of London started. So they erected this monument
to commemorate the beginning of the great fire of London. You can walk up, there are
about 200 to 300 steps and there is an amazing view at the top. I'm not going to do that
today but if you are ever in London, come to Monument and check it out. Alright I'm
going to return my bike, get a new one and then I'm going to blow your minds with the
next fact.
Alright guys, I've decided to come off my bike because it is super busy. I'm walking
over London bridge but this isn't the original London bridge. There have been several versions
of London Bridge but one of them that was built in the 1830s was dismantled in 1967
and shipped to America. That's right! In a place called Lake Havisu City in Arizona there
is London Bridge, the London Bridge. It was bought buy a man called Robert P McCulloch
and shipped over to America in the late 60s. The idea was that he wanted to attract tourists
and residents to his new city in Arizona. So he decided to buy London Bridge. Now there
are some rumours that he thought he was buying Tower Bridge, which is over there. He denies
this, he said that he always wanted to buy London Bridge but I suspect that he wanted
Tower Bridge, it's much more beautiful. Anyway it was shipped over to the States, then it
was taken on a train across the country to Arizona where they constructed it in 1971
and it's been there ever since. Right i think it's time to get back on my bike.
Now as you cycle round London you realise just how multicultural the city is. In the
2011 census 36.7 percent of people in London were born abroad, that's huge. And in 2015
they figured out that 69% of kids in London had a parent that were from abroad. It just
shows you how multicultural this city is. I've heard that there are about 300 languages
spoken within this city and yeah you can hear it as you are cycling around you can hear
that. And I read that London is the second largest immigrant city in the world behind
New York. Oh the streets have got a bit narrower now. Oh some beautiful singing come up here
Ok, we're back on the bicycle. Now it's probably worth mentioning that these bicycles are actually
called Boris Bikes. That is a the slang name that is given to them and the reason for that
is that the scheme was introduced in 2010 and the mayor at the time, the London mayor
was called Boris Johnson. So they got the slang name Boris Bikes. They are sponsored
by Santander at the moment so they are supposed to be Santander cycles but I call them Boris Bikes.
Taking a Boris Bike isn't the only way to get around London. In fact if you look
around you'll see hundreds of black cabs. Now to be a black cabbie you have to go through
one of the hardest tests in the world. It's called The Knowledge and they test your knowledge
of London. There are 320 routes that you have to remember and learn which are all within
a 6 mile radius of Charing Cross. Then you have to learn about 25,000 streets, 20,000
(landmarks) around London. It's absolutely insane. It takes between about 2 to 4 years
to learn and I am in complete awe, and I'm in complete awe of people who take it. Now
remember guys this is in the time before GPS, before TomToms, Sat Navs, Google Maps. They
had to know almost every street in London. It's remarkable.
The London Eye.
Alright guys, I've cycled to Westminster, I've stopped just here to show you Big Ben but it's covered
up. They are doing refurbishment at the moment, I think it's going to take a couple of years
so you are going to have to believe me that this is Big Ben, I promise you it is. Anyway
so the big fact about Big Ben, some of you might know already, is that Big Ben, we think
to be the Tower but actually it's just the bell inside the tower. It makes all the noises.
The tower is actually called the Elizabeth tower after Queen Elizabeth. So when you next
see the Houses of Parliament you'll know it isn't actually Big Ben, you are looking at
the Elizabeth tower. Everyone is overtaking me guys, I'm being outpaced. Got to step up
my game, come on. I can cycle faster. Here we go, come on. Oh there's one. Come on and
another.
Alright I've hopped off my bike for this one. This is cool guys. This street right here
into the Savoy is the only street in Britain where you can drive on the right. Normally
we drive on the left but for some reason and I don't know why, don't ask me why this street
you have to drive on the right. How cool is that? Just this one street and it's about
50 metres, not even that far. Here we go, a black cab coming in on the right.
Alright I've stopped again Eat Sleep Dreamers outside the Be At One pub but it used to be
called the Red Lion pub. This is in Soho. Now this is famous because upstairs, right
up there. This is where Karl Marx drafted the Communist Manifesto. History was made
in that room, unbelievable. This is what I love about London, is that history is being
made in every corner of the city. Each street that you walk down, you know that something
momentous has happened there. And right here, the Communist Manifesto was drafted.
Alright Eat Sleep Dreamers, I've parked up my bike, that's it I'm done. My tour of London
has finished, I'm in Soho, it's time for a drink. Anyways I hope you have enjoyed it,
let me know in the comments below, give me a big thumbs up. Leave me your comments and
any other facts about London that you have. Alright, this is Tom the Chief Dreamer, saying
goodbye.