Travel guide says London is good value

A Lonely Planet travel guide says London is now in its top ten best value travel destinations. 

In the past the guide criticised London for high prices. Now the city has many cheap hotels and free museums, and the value of the pound has dropped.

The guide, called Best In Travel 2010, says good things about London include free museums, and amazing views and restaurants serving food from all over the world for less than £10 per person. 

Other best value locations include Thailand, Iceland and Mexico.

Changes to Oxford Circus

Shoppers should now find it easier to cross London’s busiest street. Oxford Circus in London is a very busy junction, surrounded by top shops and entrances to metro stations. This week all the protective barriers were removed and new X shaped crossings opened, which stop all traffic and let people walk directly across the junction. 

Manchester United footballer in the news

Wayne Rooney became a father for the first time this week. Rooney and his wife Coleen are very well-known in Britain and there has been a lot of interest in the pregnancy and the baby. 

The Rooneys’ baby was born in a public hospital, unlike the children of many well-paid footballers. The Rooneys have also promised not to sell the first photos of the baby. Apparently they refused £1m from a magazine. 

The name given to the baby has interested a lot of people. He is called Kai Wayne Rooney. Kai is apparently at number 61 in the list of popular boys’ names in the UK, and has meanings in many other languages. Now it is likely to become very popular among parents. 

What annoys British people?

You may be surprised by what apparently annoys us most in the UK. Lots of people were questioned for a survey. This discovered that the most annoying things which happen in our ordinary lives are:

1. Arriving at a bus stop as the bus leaves
2. Being caught in the rain without an umbrella or raincoat
3. Getting a parking ticket

Parents fight to get their children into school

There was a lot of talk about a report on ways in which parents break the rules to get their children into the school they want. 

In many towns and cities there are schools which are so popular that they have to turn away children. Other schools do not get enough applications.

The Government wants to make sure that the rules for getting school places are fair to everybody. It has found that parents give false addresses, claim they have divorced, or rent houses close to the school they want.

Now the Government has asked whether there should be worse punishments for parents who do this. At present the child will lose the school place but that is all that will happen.

by Susan Young - susan@englishuk.com