(The memory card is no more. And I’d rather buy yarn and purses than a new one right now, so it’s just me and my little words today. Hope you enjoy it anyway!)
I know I said no more spiritual insights – but I can’t help myself. 🙂 I started today at the British Library, in the collection known as their “Treasures” room. This room, about the size of three living rooms tacked together, contains documents ranging from the Magna Carta to original Beatles lyrics on the back of a napkin. The first time I was here, back in 2007, I found a copy of the book of Hebrews from the Bible. It was written on the back of a Roman map, and had been found in a trash dump in Cairo. I stood in front of it and just cried. (That’s kinda my thing.) But think about it – the person who copied out this book might have known the Apostle Paul, and may have even seen and heard Jesus. And it was right there, just a pane of glass away from me. What a thing to think about. And isn’t it just like God, to use what someone threw away to touch my heart?
I’ve been back twice, hoping to see that same artifact. And I haven’t yet, since the collection changes frequently. But there are plenty of other awesome things to see, including a copy of “Jane Eyre” written out in Charlotte Bronte’s own hand. That’s pretty incredible too. There was also an exhibit celebrating Gerard Mercator, one of the first cartographers to make maps of the world. The exhibit celebrated the 500th anniversary of his birth, in 1512, and showed his first map featuring North America. He kinda mashed the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers together, but it ain’t bad for 1580!
All right, enough learnin’. Let’s shop. 🙂
I stopped for lunch at McDonalds in the Oxford Street Tube station. I usually avoid all American eateries when I travel (since that’s the POINT of travelling, after all) but the cold and rain and my hormones demanded French fries. And I don’t know what they do to them over here, but they were AMAZING. Seriously. I was fortified for some rain-soaked shopping.
I hit all the big names on Oxford Street, including Kate Middleton’s old haunts at Zara and Jigsaw. I couldn’t fit one of my thighs into most of the things at either one of those shops, and definitely couldn’t fit anything there onto my credit card. I did find, however, that my love affair with H&M continued across continents. We SERIOUSLY need to get one of those in Des Moines. Or maybe we don’t – my budget couldn’t stand it! It was raining pretty hard at this point, so after scoring some cute ballet flats and a new purse (!) at Topshop, I headed for tea at the Victoria & Albert Museum. The tea rooms there are glorious (I have pictures from the last visit – I’ll update this once I get back Stateside!) and so was the tea. The carrot cake, however, left something to be desired. My mom’s is better. And in saying that, I hope she’ll make it for me when I get home. 🙂
I wandered through the museum a bit, taking in the exhibit on women’s fashions that made me very glad to be wearing comfy knits for my travels. The V&A has a fantastic collection of marble sculptures, which I perused for a while before moving on. I dumped all my loose change into the donation box at the exit (since banks back home won’t exchange coins) and headed out.
I’d originally planned to attend a Mozart concert by candlelight at St. Martins in the Fields tonight, but that just felt like too much culture. So I went to the TKTS booth on Leicester Square to see if there was anything lower-brow. And I found it – “We Will Rock You” by Queen. You don’t get much pop-ier than that! I walked up Charing Cross Road to the theatre (British spelling!) and stopped in a few of the bookshops along the way. I was a bit taken aback by the neon sign advertising a “licensed sex shop” in the basement of one bookstore. If this place was “licensed” I really don’t want to contemplate what “unlicensed” looks like. Yikes.
Since I’m still a bit of wimp about attending shows that require a late-night Tube ride home, I was really glad to see the Tube stop was right in front of the theatre. The theatre was beautiful inside, all red and gilt and with recently remodelled bathrooms that made me want to sing. All kinds of American pop music was playing in the lobby before the show, which also made me happy. That, coupled with my strange desire for McDonald’s earlier, must mean it’s time to go home.
The show was silly and crazy and awesome, and the music fantastic. I’m not going to try to recap the plot, because there isn’t really one. It’s just an excuse to have Queen songs performed by some fantastic musicians, and for all of us to sing along. Nothing like a theatre full of people stomping and clapping and singing their guts out to “Bohemian Rhapsody”.
Now I’m back for the last night in my teeny room, and have packed away all the treasures I scored for my family on this trip. I’m hoping I can carry it all the way to Heathrow tomorrow, and that I haven’t forgotten anything, since it’s pretty much a game of packing Jenga inside my suitcase right now. 🙂
More tomorrow from the airport! G’night, all!