The city I'd like to visit

I would like you to get acquainted with one of the most mysterious and beautiful cities in the world. It is San Francisco. This unique city is located on the West Coast of the United States at the north end of the San Francisco peninsular and includes significant stretches of the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay within its boundaries. It's sparkling, that the city if officially name as the City and County of San Francisco and it is the leading financial and cultural center of Norther California. The city also has the largest population density.

I have chosen this gorgeous place mainly because of my childhoos interest for "Charmed", which is an American series about three witches, fighting with demons and dark powers. The city was a filmland for the series and you can find there the Sisters' house (The Charmed Ones). The house is, actually, the most interesting thing for me about this city and I want you to have a closer look at it.

After having a quick look at this magnificent house, I want you to see two more most famous places of San Francisco. The first one on the list is definitely the Golden Gate Bridge. There's something special about this bridge, apart from being the most internationally recognized one, it draw your attention being an architecture marvel.  Many international magazines put in to a list of the most beautiful modern wonders. It is certainly the most photographed bridge in the world. It is thrilling to know that this bridge has been filmed more than 30 times, not including every single time it was shown on news or in series episodes. Surprisingly though, such an angelic place used to be popular with people, who were eager to commit a suicide. That's the main reason why the authority provided the bridge with a special telephone line for such cases. Anyway, it's one of the most eye-drawing object in California. 

The second place I want to tell you about is Chinatown, which is very famous the world over as it is one of the biggest in the United States. It's becomes less popular to develop such things as Chinatowns, but San Francisco's special district amazes. It has over 2000 shop and stalls, so that you can find there almost everything. Whether you want to have some cheap food or have a meal at first-class restaurants - you can find it in this Chinatown. Personally, I suppose it is one of my favourite places in the city because it shows the combination of different cultures - all you need is just stroll along the alley.

As you have already read, the main reason I want to visit this place is the Charmed house, but there's one more thing that attracts me almost equally. The thing is amazing climate throughout the year. I'm not a big fan of winter and all those cold things, so San Francisco is probably the perfect paradise for me. It has hot dry summer, which is OK, and mild winter and autum, which allows people to enjoy relaxing weather whenever they want.

The city "One of the Most..."

I want to tell you about a city which I am really in love with. However it is not just a city, it is an island, a country and a city at one and the same time. It is Singapore. This place has charmed me with its combination of up-to-dateness and conservatism, nature and technologies. Without any natural resources (the city has to import even sand and water) it has become one of the most developed and richest cities in the globe. I think a person can`t call himself an experienced traveler unless he visited one of the most striking and paradoxical cities - banana-lemon Singapore.
Many people know that Singapore is a very strict state. Large sums of money are charged for harmless things, it would seem. You`d have to pay 1000$ for smoking, 500$ for eating and drinking at public places. Driving in a drunken state is punished by whipping, and taking drugs - by death. It is rigid but fair – nobody dares to neglect the law.
What is more surprising for me, Singapore is entirely built based on the rules of feng shui. For example, according to feng shui sharp corners accumulate misfortune and that`s why all the skyscrapers in this city have rounded shape. Moreover, each building there has a source of streaming water as a symbol of easy flow of money. Maybe Ukrainians should start to follow some of the feng shui rules to make our lives better? Maybe it is the way out of all our problems? At any rate, whether this doctrine had any influence on the country`s development or not, Singapore is known to be in the top 10 countries to live in, leaving the US behind.
What I also like in this city is its use of space. The area which Singapore occupies is even less than the area of Kiev. That`s why the developers did their best to use each square metre of the space. Even the downtown is fully built on an artificial seafront.
If I went to Singapore I`d thoroughly think over the places I`d like to visit. To start with, I would stay at the Hotel Marina Bay Sands which is famous for its swimming pool on the rooftop. This is a place where you can observe the whole city while swimming at 150-metres pool. Secondly, I know that this city is famous for delicious seafood dishes and the most popular one is a chile crab. It is an emormous crustacean which is served with a most spicy sauce – sounds unusual but I really long to taste it.
Besides all the interesting facts I wrote above, Singapore is famous the most for its amusements. Every year it receives more than 14 million visitors and the place where they usually start their journey from is Sentosa. Sentosa is an island where you can find everything: casinos, a best oceanarium in the globe, splendid beaches, a butterfly park, shopping malls and of course a huge amusement park. It seems this is a place where all the technologies of the world are used to entertain you. Do you want to skydive without any risk for your health? You`re welcome to large aerodynamic pipe! Do you want to go surfing? It`s also not a problem here – artificial waves are waiting for you!
The last thing I`d like to tell you about is a zoo. You won`t see any gates or cages there – the conditions, in which the animals live in, really reminds ones of a wild life. The feeling that nothing separates you from a white tiger is extremely scaring but at the same time there is something that always prevents predator from approaching the visitor.
All in all, there are much more things to tell you about this extraordinary city. However, I always think it`s much better to see once that to hear twice.

One of the oldest and most mysterious archaeological sites in the world

      Everybody agrees that travelling has become one of the most popular ways of spending free time. Millions of people leave their homes and go to the seaside, to the mountains or make tours round other countries to get bright and unforgettable impressions and have a good time. They travel to see other countries and continents, modern cities and ruins of ancient towns. They travel to enjoy picturesque places or just for a change of scene.

      The choice of the destination of your travel depends on your tastes and your wishes. As for me, I would like to visit one of the oldest and most mysterious archaeological sites in the world…

      Eight miles north of Salisbury is a large circle of stones, which is called Stonehenge. It measures 80 metres across and made with massive blocks of stone up to four metres high. The largest stones weigh over 40 tons, and visitors since Roman times have been baffled by their purpose and the secrets of their construction. Some people believe that Stonehenge was built for religious purposes, others believe that it was a temple for the dead. Maybe it was a kind of observatory, where astronomers studied the stars and the planets. Anyway, we shall never know the real answer.

      Stonehenge, which was built thousands of years ago, is still a special place for some people today. Every year, on June 21^st, lots of people go to Stonehenge to celebrate the longest day of the year. It is surely Britain's greatest national icon, symbolizing mystery, power and endurance.

      I hope to visit this enigmatic place and I’m sure that soon my dream will come true!

Petra, Jordan

The city of Petra is one of the world's most famous archaeological sights.

Fill the gaps in the text about Petra with the words at the top, then watch the video and check your answers.

Petra - A Worlds Marvel Gaps by Maribella2012

"100 places to visit before you die" on the map

Have you ever tried working with Google Maps? Let's create a map of the places mentioned in the text "100 Places to visit before you die". As you see, I have already marked one of the places, the Grand Canyon Skywalk. Your task is to mark the others. Actually, only 25 places are named in the text, so it makes 2-3 places for each of you. Leave a comment with the names of the destinations you have labeled.
Просмотреть 100 places to visit before you die на карте большего размера

How to add a placemark to your map:
1. Click the link which you can see below the map.
2. Click "Edit" to enter editing mode.
3. Click the blue baloon-like placemark icon (at the top of the map).
4. Move the cursor to the appropriate location. If you want to dismiss this placemark, press the Escape key. 5. Click to place your placemark. It should bounce into place.
6. Add a title and description.
7. Click "OK" to save when you are finished.

You can also save an item from your search result to the map.
1. Click the link below the map.
2. Click "Edit" to enter editing mode.
3. Search for the destination that you want to add. The results appear in the Search Results bar on the left. Click on the listing or map marker you want to save.
4. Click "Save" in the info window. This copies the result to your map as a placemark.
5. Edit the title or description, if you want.
6. Click OK to save when you are finished.

Try saving photos and YouTube videos to the map as well to make it more visually attractive. If you do that, the picture or the video are displayed when the corresponding blue sign on the map is clicked.  Here is a "how-to": Add other content.

The Grand Canyon

Good day! According to the text in the textbook, the Grand Canyon (USA) is one of the places to visit before you die.

How about watching a video so that you could have a glimpse of its marvelous beauty?

Leave a comment with at least one adjective which best describes what you have seen. (Use your imagination and avoid such common adjectives as "beautiful" and "great", please.) 

What are we going to read?

Hello! My congratulations on the first day of the second term! Last term you enjoyed individual reading. This time, in addition to that, we will have home reading - the same book for all of you to read at home and discuss at class. Here is a word cloud of the titles of the short stories we are going to read. Can you decipher any of them? Remember that Wordle omits common words like articles and conjunctions from the clouds.