Feed the Birds - Twopence a Bag...

No, sorry, you can't do that any more. Except for one spot in St James's Park. Possibly an area that needs fertilising?

But the image of the old bag lady from Mary Poppins is with me as I approach the steps of St Paul's from Fleet Street.

I've walked over from my digs near the British Museum with two other destinations to visit en route. The first is located just around the block on the corner of Great Russell and Bloomsbury Street. Those devotees of Helene Hanff's charming books, 84 Charing Cross Road and The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street in particular, may just remember that she stayed, during her much awaited trip to the UK, at the Kenilworth Hotel at the above mentioned address.

Yes, there it is! Today it's the Radisson Kenilworth but it's still the same old facade. I'm thrilled there's something of hers left after the disappointment of finding that number 84 Charing Cross Road has been demolished and is now a hideous Pizza shop! The bookshop of Marks & Co I knew had long since gone, but where do they get off tearing down iconic buildings!

Next address on the way is Chancery Lane where poor old Hughie meets his 'particularly tasty piece of crackling' for lunch at the Dolca Vita in John Mortimer's, Summer's Lease. Well if the Dolca Vita ever really existed, it doesn't now. Never mind, it's fun just walking down these famous streets.

I'm at St Paul's by 9 o'clock which is a very wise move as the peace is not yet disturbed by the thronging masses. I light candles for my nearest and dearest and marvel at the exquisite architecture and the sense that this is indeed a holy place. Christopher Wren's great masterpiece, and it's a pleasure to know that he did actually live to see it completed. Not the usual state of affairs for cathedral designers. How fitting that he lies at rest in this beautiful place.

The audio tour guides me through the centuries and invites me to climb the 259 steps to the Whispering Gallery way up in that fabulous dome.

Up I go. And up... And up... But it's worth it to look way down into the magnificent nave below where the people who are now gathering look like dolls, and you feel like you might burst into a few verses of Amazing Grace at any minute. Some of the other visitors to the Whispering Gallery think they must try some whispering to see if it actually does travel around the dome. (O ye of little faith. Chapter ? Verse ?) And yes, we're all thrilled to find it does. We can hear (I'm eaves dropping) perfectly what is being whispered way over there!

Next challenge is the Stone Gallery, only another 200 odd steps. Well why not. This takes you outside to the balustrady looking bit on the dome where you can get a pigeon's eye view of the city. I catch sight of one of my favourite modern buildings: the Gherkin, which looks like a glittering Faberge egg.

The Crypt is the final part of the tour. One could spend hours here. I see Horatio Nelson's magnificent tomb and Christopher Wren's very modest and simple one. Also a memorial to that illustrious forbear of my good friend David Duff: George Duff, killed at Trafalgar in the service of king and country. Actually we don't know if he really is related but that's neither here nor there.

I feel the need for coffee after all that and a cafe is at hand right here in the Crypt, next to the gift shop. I have a vision of Jesus over-turning the tables of the commercially motivated in the temple. But, they have to keep this show on the road somehow so I guess if you're into tacky little mementos then it's all in a good cause.

I enjoy my coffee next to an enormous marble statue of the slain figure of Major General Ponsonby and his horse with an angel come to claim him at the Battle of Waterloo. I have no idea who this gentleman was but his passing certainly generated a steady income over quite a long time for some lucky sculptor.