There's nothing quite like a brisk stroll in the park after a hearty Sunday lunch, taking in the sights and sounds of Mother Nature before returning home for a nice cup of tea, accompanied by a moist slice of lemon cake for good measure.
Living in London, there are plenty of green spaces from which to choose, from the gigantic Richmond Park in the south-west of the capital, to little St. James's Park in the shadow of Buckingham Palace.
Talking of Buckingham Palace, it's the Queen's Diamond Jubilee next year, marking a whopping 60 years at the top of the monarchical tree.
And in celebration, another option for your Sunday walk has become available – the
Jubilee Greenway.
You'll do well to walk its entirety in a single afternoon, what with it being 37 miles long, but it's been designed in way that you can do a bit at a time and still see marvellous scenery and points of interest along the way.
The conversion-conscious among you may have noticed that 37 miles is equivalent to 60km – one kilometre for every year of the Queen's reign. Clever, eh.
Now unless you've been living in a hole in the ground for the last few years, the news that the Olympics is coming to town in 2012 won't have escaped you.
Indeed, the route of the Jubilee Greenway cleverly combines all nine central London venues being used in next year's sporting extravaganza.
These include the O2 Arena (hosting the gymnastics, among other events), Greenwich Park (equestrian/modern pentathlon), Horse Guards Parade (beach handball) in central London, Hyde Park's Serpentine (open water swimming), and Regent's Park (road cycling finale).
The route of the Jubilee Greenway, which can of course also be cycled, has been split into 10 manageable sections. These are:
Section 1: Buckingham Palace to Little Venice
Section 2: Little Venice to Camden
Section 3: Camden to Victoria Park
Section 4: Victoria Park to Stokes Road
Section 5: Stokes Road to the River Thames
Section 6: River Thames to Greenwich
Section 7: Greenwich to Tower Bridge
Section 8: Tower Bridge to Westminster Bridge via South Bank
Section 9: Westminster Bridge to Buckingham Palace
Section 10: Victoria Park to Limehouse Basin - via Mile End Park
The entire walk will soon be marked with distinctive paving slabs (some are already in place), but until that time you'll need to utilise the excellent directions available at
the walk's website, downloadable as pdf files.