LONDON — What are the first sights you seek when you travel to a
new city? The museums? The top restaurants? Or the cemeteries? I
choose cemeteries. Although some people think that's weird, I
find them a through-the-looking-glass way of understanding a
place and how it grew. They are fascinating, beautiful, a bit
mysterious but rarely ghoulish or spooky.  Because of its rich
history, London is one of the best cities for touring
cemeteries. I started at Bunhill Fields, close to the City, as
London's financial center is called. The name probably comes
from the Saxon meaning Bone Hill, although officially this
cemetery dates from the 1660s, a time of plague in London.  John
Bunyan of "The Pilgrim's Progress" lies here on top of his high
sarcophagus staring up to heaven. Opposite stands an obelisk to
Daniel Defoe, who wrote "A Journal of the Plague Year," one of
the first nonfiction novels. The headstone for William Blake and
his wife, Catherine Sophia, is nearby. When both were alive,
Catherine was heard to comp