Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square ...

A final day in London with Regent's Park and Westminster Abbey on the list.

Regent's Park is just one of the extensive areas given over to parkland in London. In fact, said our guide on the Big Bus Tour, London is officially a forest, so many trees does it have. Hyde Park alone covers 500 acres.

Regent's Park is a quiet oasis next to the hustle and bustle of Marylebone Road. Yet another place where it is easy to get lost. No straight lines in this country with the possible exception of the odd Roman Road.

I found Queen Mary's Garden, a horticultural treasure trove complete with a squirrel, a lovely rose garden, a cascade and a pond. A turn around the Boating Lake where white swans drift by then over a flower decked bridge which takes you to the Regent's Park Zoo. I don't have time for the zoo so reluctantly I turn back and head once more into the tumult of London at work.. There is much in the way of road work and building repairs under way in London, no doubt inspired by the up-coming Olympics, but Londoners take it all in their stride.

If Saint Paul's is a place where one might find the spirit of God, Westminster Abbey is where one finds the wealth and power of kings. Do I remember correctly that Jesus said something about putting aside your worldly goods and following him? Well, I can tell you that nothing has been put aside in Westminster Abbey. It is the most extraordinary building I have ever seen. The scale is overwhelming, the opulence and the decoration could hardly be rivalled. How wonderful it must be to hear the exquisite voices of the choir ascending to that distant ceiling.

The little chapels skirting the main alter contain the remains of kings, queens and noblemen from centuries past, all remembered with the most elaborate tomb decorations, and there's scarcely a square foot of floor that doesn't have some important personage under it. The Poet's Corner is one place everyone wants to visit to find the graves or remembrance stones of favourite authors.

The only tomb that you are not permitted to walk on is that of the Unknown Soldier which has pride of place inside the main entrance. Winston Churchill was offered a place nearby but declined as he felt that more than enough people had walked all over him in life and he preferred not to have it repeated in death!

It takes me 2 ½ hours to complete the tour and I still feel that I should return for another look in October when I come back to London.

I light some candles once more then head home to pack my bags for the early train to Scotland.