London has always been my escape when the puritanism and crude supremacy of the Americans begin to get on my nerves. The Americans greet unconventionality with suspicion, the British with appreciation. In very many ways there is a great deal more freedom in a culture that isn't so conspicuously self-congratulatory about all the liberties that it claims. I love London's combination of city culture with ready access to the countryside; where else is it so easy to spend a day on the heath and an evening at the theatre?