Some facts about Queen Elizabeth II.

Today I would like to write about probably the most popular woman in the UK. Her full name is Elizabeth Alexandra Mary. She was born on 21^th April 1926 in London. Her father was George VI. and her mother was Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.

Maybe you are asking, why have I chosen exactly her. It is because I am interested in history and Queen Elizabeth II. made definitely a part of history! She lived out during the WWII., she faced Cold war, now she still represents the Great Britain, when the Brexit is actual, etc. So I think, she is very interesting  and strong person, who politically lived during the stormy 20 ^th century.

As a child, she had to study a lot. She learnt cooking, looking after children, riding a horse, speaking for people, religion and naturally foreign languages. Then she studied the history of UK and constitutional law. In 1945, when she was 19 years old, she joined women auxiliary battalion – she was driving some military lorries and reached a post of younger leader.  

In 1947 she got married with Prince Phillip. Their first child – son Charles, was born in 1948 and the second child – daughter Anne in 1950.

When the health of her father was getting worse, she acted for him on some social events. On 6^th February 1950 king George VI. died, so she was on 2^th June crowned in Westminster abbey. 

In the 80´ she had disputes with the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. She disagreed with her economic and was annoyed that Thatcher doesn´t want to put sanctions on South Africa, where was apartheid politic.

The 90´were for the royal family horrible, because of some divorces and personal crises. 

In 2007 she has became the oldest ruling monarch on British throne and in 2017 the longest living British monarch, so she has outdone queen Victoria. For nowadays, she is for her age still very active and since 1952 perform as a patroness of Scouts Association. 

At the end of this post, I would like to give you a link for ashort video, where is her life caught in pictures:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lcoTwZ-dI0

Vocabulary:

constitutional law - ústavní právo

women auxiliary battalion - ženský pomocný prapor

abbey - opatství

outdone - překonala

Romantic punting

When I was reading one text about Oxford and Cambridge, I ran into the word punting. In bracket was written, that it means: ´boating in long narrow boats moved by pushing a long pole against the riverbed´.

Because I like boats, it interested me, so I decided to find more and write about it here.

The punting boat

 

At first, I´d like to write about the history of punting in Cambridge. The beginning of punting in Cambridge is connected with native Maurice "Jack" Scudamore, because he completed his boat building apprenticeship at a Chesterton Boatyard and was involved in the building of the first punt in Cambridge. After this, Jack joined the army in South African war.

In 1903, Jack came back and 'founded Scudamore's Boatyard in Mill Lane, where he initially built and hired rowboats and prize-winning motorboats. At about this time 'pleasure punting' as a trend began to establish itself on the Thames. Punts are square-ended boats with flat bottoms, no keel and are usually propelled with a long pole. ' ¹ 

He also started with building of these ships and his business was so successful that by the early 1920s punting had overtaken every other boating activity in Cambridge and the punts were so favourite that they have tradition even for nowadays.

^{Punting in Cambridge}

           Now, you can visit the town by the punt with a guide, for fee. You see the town from completely other perspective and it has its own magic. Of course, it depends on the weather, because when it is raining, it is not so comfortable, as when it is a hot sunny day.

           The next thing I want to mention is technique. How Jerome K. Jerome in his book Three Men in a Boat said: 'Punting is not as easy as it looks. As in rowing, you soon learn how to get along and handle the craft, but it takes long practice before you can do this with dignity and without getting the water all up your sleeve. ' So it is pretty difficult to handle the craft and at the same time speak about the town, or nature and the guides in punts have to manage it. My father can confirm it, because when he was young student, he had it as part-time job. For your imagine, I share here a video, how to do it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7X0cnTR7zk

           Unfortunately, I have never been to Cambridge, so I haven´t visited this attraction of the town. But I live in Děčín, in the Czech republic and near of my town is a village called Hřensko, where is something like that. They have also punts, but they don´t use them in the village. They take the tourists with them on river Kamenice into Edmund and Wild gorge, directly in the heart of a national park Czech Schwitzerland. It is very popular; many tourists go there, primarily from Germany, but also from the Czech republic or some other countries. 

The start of Wild gorge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjmDNDhqrZA 

           In my opinion is punting really interesting way of traveling, I like it and I can recommend it to everyone, who has never tried it.

Here you can see, how romantic it can be.