14 The United States of America

The city was built on a modern plan of streets and avenues, which follow a geometry shape and are numbered. Streets run east west and avenues north south, for example 5th avenue is the shopping centre. Only a few of them – the oldest- have got their names for example Wall Street or Broadway.

Broadway is centre of cultural live. New York is famous for its Manhattan skyline - a large number of skyscrapers on a small area. They started to build skyscrapers because of the lack of space and the high price of land on the island.

Washington, D.C.

Is the capital of the U.S.A. It is not such as large as New York. Only about 1 million people live there. The city is named after the first American president George Washington.

Washington is a city of government offices and some musician and art galleries. There are some well-known monuments for example Washington’s mo­numents and the Lincoln memorial.

There are the most important buildings in the U.S. The Whitehouse is residence of the American president. The Capitol is the seat of the Congress. The Pentagon is the centre of military forces.

There are no factories and industries in Washington and that is why the city is so clean and nice. No building can be higher than the Capitol. That is why you cannot see any skyscrapers there.

Other interesting places

Besides Washington and New York there are many places worth seeing such as many national parks and large cities. On western coast the most famous places are Los Angeles and San Francisco.

• In L.A. we can find the famous film centre Hollywood and luxurious grater Beverly Hills. The American academy awards Oscars for the best film of the year in April of every year. L.A. is also the centre of crime. The biggest ZOO in the world is here.

• San Francisco is one of the cleanest cities. It is the victim of frequent earthquakes. There is a large Chinatown. It is the largest settlement outside Asia.

• Florida is a tourist area with long beaches in Miami - the biggest centre in the east Philadelphia. It is one of the oldest cities. It used to be the first U.S. capitol.

• Chicago lies on the banks of lake Michigan.

• Detroit is the centre of U.S. car industries-Ford, Chrysler and General Motors.

• Yellowstone National Parks is the world’s widest geyser area. There are about 3000 geysers and hot spring.

• Mount Rushmore - a monument to the four American presidents, sculpted into the rock.

• New Orleans it's located in the delta of the largest American river, the Mississippi. The city stands out because of its mixed cultural heritage - the French Creole* influences. This is most noticeable in the architecture of the citv's French Quarter. It's also the city of jazz and Dixieland music and in February the festival Mardi Gras takes place here. However, recently the town has been coping with two maior disasters: Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the oil spill in 2010.

• Grand Canyon in Arizona, a symbol of the Wild West. This bright red canyon about 1,500 m deep was carved by the Colorado River cutting through the Colorado Plateau. You can follow different trails that offer breathtaking views.

• Jamestown, Virginia, is where the first permanent English settlement was founded in America in 1607.

• Kennedy Space Center from which NASA's (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) space shuttles and rockets are launched into space.

• Sequoia National Park - California can boast Sequoia National Park where you can find huge sequoia trees and even the largest known tree, the General Sherman Tree.

• New York nicknamed the Big Apple, is the centre of the financial and art world and is admired for its modern high-rise architecture. I would definitely take an elevator up the current tallest building in town, the Empire State Building, built in the 1930s, or walk through the Theatre District along Broadway.

• Graceland, the home of the king of rock'n'roll, in which you can relive his times and music.

• Colorado - state famous for its ski resorts such as Aspen.

• Lincoln Memorial - here Dr Martin Luther King gave his famous speech about racial equality "I have a dream".

• Los Angeles represents the American film industry, hosts the Academy Award Ceremony every year and tourists can step on the Hollywood Walk of Fame among the stars.

• San Francisco - the most famous landmark, the Golden Gate Bridge.

• Everglades National Park on the tip 10 of the Florida Peninsula. This special wetland! is a habitat for many animal and plant species, and you will definitely see some alligators there.

• Las Vegas - American entertainment capitol with all its casinos and fancy hotels.

• Silicon Valley - near this city is the center for cutting-edge computer technology, where companies like Google, Apple and Intel have their headquarters.