You can learn a lot about a city by exploring its parks and gardens. A quality city properly funds and maintains these green islands, which act as a refuge for visitors and residents alike. As much as I love a bustling downtown, a park gate is an invitation to leave the chaos behind, and enter into an urban oasis. A place of fountains, flowers, and statues; winding paths dotted with memorials to founding fathers, long dead artists and explorers. London has an astonishing array of parks; in fact, 47 percent of the city is green space. Hopefully there isn’t anything else you wanted to see while in town.