May 1 - London

After another slow start, I head out for a run in Battersea Park. Its muggy out and I'm soon damp and sweaty. Its a drizzly day. We head to St. Paul's Cathedral, Christopher Wren's masterpiece. We wander around in awe listening to the audio tour. The mosaics, the arches, the domes...then up up up, 500 steps to view the city from the top of the dome, then creak downward feeling elderly by the end. Are my days of climbing 1500 steps in HK over? Or did I just need hiking boots? My calves are sore for the next 3 days

Lunch in a nice cafe, then a slow stroll over the millennium bridge to the Tate Modern. We pause mid-bridge to take pictures of iconic London Bridge with its drawbridge and two towers downstream on the Thames.

I had heard a lot about the Tate, but it turns out to be disappointing. There are currently no exhibits in the massive turbine hall which is what I was really looking for, a lot of it is closed, probably in preparation for the Olympics this summer. We glance at the Globe Theatre next door, but can't summon the time or energy for another tour just yet.

Back across the Thames and then, tada! The historic 15h bus is found after all! We hop on and ride it down to the tower of London, which turns out to be a huge Norman castle. We sit outside admiring the massive structure and drink some coffee, too tired to do any more touring today.