London

We have had a wonderful taste of the delights and hassles of London. How to encapsulate our experience into one postcardsnap? London is vast. The roads are in a permanent state of gridlock, with red London buses and old fashioned black taxis dominating. We saw two road signs marking recent fatalities - the dates and times. Underneath the roads lies the underground. A complex warren of trainlines that cross from one side of the city to the other. A train arrives to a full platform every two minutes and in the time between trains, the platform rapidly fills with more people. Where have the come from and where are they going? The people are rushing, moving rapidly from place to place carrying cappuccinos, and having conversations on their mobiles. It is a city in perpetual motion.

There are glimpses into past eras - the Tower of London transports you back to times such as the 1200s, and to the Tudors. They were centuries of kingdom building and religious intolerances - there are the memories of gruesome beheadings and tortures - there are the etched messages of those imprisoned on the walls remaining, each marking a life. There is Big Ben in his elegant splendour. St Paul's Cathedral, Sir John Soames House Museum, the Charles Dickens House Museum, the British Museum and the British Library, we walked to each and had a glimpse at something truly remarkable.

There are places of serenity and quiet beauty to walk, sit and enjoy. I loved Russell Square, with its cafe. I walked through Hyde Park one cold, sunny day along the Princess Diana Memorial walk and remembered a beautiful princess who captured the hearts of millions. Keith and I got engaged and married in the same year as Princess Di and Prince Charles. Her wedding, so picture perfect in every way, it was hard not to be envious.

What was it about Diana that captured the interest and love of so many? She stood for everything that looked perfect, beautiful - the idea of perfection. How apt that her memorial fountain is beside the statue of Peter Pan. The boy who never grew up. This statue is in my memory. My mother took me to visit it in 1967 - I was almost seven. I remember I was wearing yellow, it was sunny and we crawled all over Peter Pan. We touched the bronze animals - it is a child's statue.

As I remember my childhood and the life of a princess, I wonder whether her popularity has anything to do with people's desire for something perfect and beautiful in their own lives. Her tragic death was a harsh reminder that life is not like that - we were sad not only for her death, but the loss of a princess who was beautiful and almost perfect. Peter Pan didn't want to grow up and face the realities of an adult life. Sometimes, I think we would all like to retreat into a world that is beautiful and unspoilt.

To discover the more pleasant side of London, you really need to walk. I have tramped many miles this week, and I am acutely aware of the two planter warts on my feet that have taken the brunt of each step. At the end of each day, my feet have ached. I have also had a day when it seemed as if everything was going wrong. I was reminded, as I often am, of Alexander and his terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Johnnie had a nasty sore throat, was feverish and felt like staying in bed. I thought I would race off, buy half price tickets to a show and explore the National Gallery. Our closest station is Holborn and it had closed, due to an underground fire. I walked to Covent Garden, the next station, and lost my debit card in a ticketing machine. It was the first time I had attempted to use it and it vanished. I became a flustery, flushed, middle aged woman who did silly things. Later, at Piccadilli, I became lost and wondered where I was and how I had gotten there. I had to return to our apartment to cancel the card and by then I was exhausted. It goes to show, that just because I am in London, I can still have one of those days when everything seems to go wrong.

However, I did get tickets to the Queen musical "We Will Rock You" which was out of this world. I also encountered some exceedingly kind and helpful people who bent over backwards to restore the dignity of this frazzled woman. The understated comment of the station master captured it for me: "that is a novel place to put a card, I've not seen that one before".

There are two buildings that captured the two different sides of London. There is Big Ben with his slow and understated gong, that we have all heard on television and radio that reminds us of a bygone era that we are rapidly leaving behind. Behind Big Ben stands the London Eye - a giant ferris wheel commemorating the new millenium. It is bold and brash and symbolic of the new London that is modern and very twenty first century filled with glass, technology and speed.