I worked Wednesday through Friday so Somchai was on his own during the day. Wednesday, he started at St. Paul's Cathedral, probably the most beautiful building in London. He then went to the Royal Court and Inns of Court, which are the ancient training ground for England's lawyers, and a really beautiful part of the city that for some reason is overlooked by tourists. According to Somchai he then continued walking and walking until he got to Hyde Park. (I'm not doubting him, but walking from St. Paul's to Hyde Park would be quite an accomplishment, and he looks at me like I'm insane if I suggest walking ten minutes to a nearby store rather than driving.) We then had dinner at Vong's, accross from Hyde Park. Vong's is another London outpost of a New York restaurant, although this is much better than Nobu. It's dark and intimate, with a crazy and tiny bar area and great Asian fusion food imaginatively presented.

Unfortunately Somchai didn't have his camera with him that day so a)he has no proof of his supposed trek across the city, and b) I have no photos to share. I've got a couple of photos from later in the trip with St. Paul's in them, so I'll post them here and we can all pretend Somchai took them when he "visited".

Ending my Macau entry with two of the city's most famous places. At left, the ruins of St Paul's. Built in the 15oo's, it was destroyed by a typhoon in the 1800's. Once the largest Catholic Church in China, it's now undeniably Macau's most famous sight. But 99% of visitors come for the ugly dump on the right, the Casino Lisboa. The entire gambling industry was owned by Stanley Ho for decades, making him one of Asia's richest men. His casinos were strictly for gambling, dimly lit, ugly places packed with gamblers looking absolutely miserable. But Stanley lost his total grip after the Chinese takeover, and there are now new entrants lining up from Las Vegas to bring the Las Vegas style casino entertainment to the Chinese. It's not clear whether they want it, but it will be interesting to see if this seedy little island is transformed into a glitzy Vegas wannabe.