With bagpipes on the wall, an outbreak of tartan on a plastic tablecloth, and two sticks of shortbread on a plate, Scotland's cottage was a bit of a let-down. As I hovered hungrily by the shortbread, the kilted host continued explaining to his colleague how a caber should be tossed. I wandered back out, unacknowledged, unfed, unsatisfied. Maybe he was just trying to make me feel at home.

Each week, a different country takes over the open space in front of the cottages and makes merry on the central lawn. During my visit, burly Germans in lederhosen were busy building a maypole, while hearty maedschen dispensed cheer, beer, and sausages. But I had no time to tarry with the bratwursts. In the distance, the pipes, the pipes were calling.

When it comes to musical muscle, it's hard to beat the Spreckels Organ. Weighing in at over 100,000 pounds, it's a pipe-tastic colossus. The weekly performances attract thousands to hear the best of organ classics by such note worthies as Saint Saens and Franck. But you're just as likely to hear works by Cole Porter and George Gershwin.

Music may be the food of love, but Balboa Park also has plenty for those with a love of food. For a posh nosh head to the Sculpture Garden Café at the San Diego Museum of Art or tuck into Mediterranean fare at the uber-swanky Prado Restaurant. More modest fare may be found in snack bars dotted around the park. But for something different, try the Japanese Friendship Garden's Tea Pavilion. Here, you can tuck into sushi and down Darjeeling while observing Schwarzenegger-sized hornets dive-bomb wild flowers in the nearby canyon.

For green-fingered visitors, Balboa is blooming brilliant. Horticultural highlights include one of the world's premier rose gardens, an oasis containing over 250 palm trees and a desert garden with succulents from all over the world. A blaze of colour greets visitors to the Alcazar Gardens, while the striking Botanical Building houses over 2000 tropical plants. And if all that doesn't sate your passion for plants, don't forget the botanical pleasureland that is San Diego Zoo.

The world-famous zoo occupies 100 acres of Balboa Park and can easily occupy all of your time. Here you can marvel at the meerkats and peer at the pandas in startling replicas of their natural habitats. One moment you're in the Antarctic, the next it's a tropical rainforest. If it all gets too much for your feet, you can hop on to a double decker and watch the animal world go by. Alternatively, enjoy stunning views from the aerial cable car, hilariously named "the Skyfari." Nervous fliers know this better as "the sky-feary."

I never did uncover the mystery of the rabbit in the pram. But I do know I've never seen a more happy bunny. And why not? Balboa is a park for all seasons and a playground for all creatures, great and small. No matter how long their ears might be.