So I left off on last Saturday, yeah? (that's how everyone talks here--you either have to add "yeah?" or "innit?" on the end of fairly rhetorical statements.) Sunday was the first time that I was able to sneak off alone, and it was lovely! We had the whole day to ourselves, so I took a solo trip to the National Gallery in the morning. Best decision that I've made since I went to see Billy Elliot. The National Gallery is fantastic--they have a great collection of pieces ranging from Duccio to Van Gogh. I got to see Leonardo da Vinci's cartoon for "Madonna and Child," as well as William Hogarth's "Marriage a la Mode" and several great paintings by Gainsborough, Turner, Monet, Degas, and others. I'm really glad that I took an art history class!
Stephenie and Matt met me for lunch, and then the three of us headed to Kensington Gardens to conduct more creeper park research. We saw Kensington Palace, where the gates are still covered with notes and pictures of Princess Diana.
We also found the Peter Pan statue after much hunting and getting rather turned around. That's another thing off the bucket list (we tried to find Platform 9 3/4 the other day, so we headed to King's Cross and looked for Platforms 9 and 10. First of all, there is no barrier between said platforms, just an open track. Second, it's outside. What??) 
Sunday night I had a ticket to see the world premier of Bedlam, the first show written by a female playwright ever performed at the Globe. It takes place in Bedlam during the eighteenth century and is about the corruption of the institution, although it's a comedy... Yeah, it didn't work too well. I enjoyed it, but I won't be rushing back to see it.
I spent most of Monday at the Victoria and Albert Museum, which is the craziest place ever. Holy crap. I have never seen so much stuff packed into one place. And it's all shiny! It was total sensory overload. But seriously, that museum has exhibits on everything from fashion to jewelry to micromosaics, to every piece of silver that has ever been hammered into any shape that at least resembles a dish, to medieval artifacts. The material wealth in that museum is ridiculous, and it drove home the idea of a consumer culture. Imperialism begets opulence and the accumulation of random stuff from every corner of the world. There is so much stuff in there that it's impossible to take it all in--your eyes just start to glaze over. My favorite part was the exhibition of Beatrix Potter's original illustrations to Peter Rabbit.
After escaping from the V&A (the maps were completely useless, so you actually did have to escape), a group of us went to see Les Miserables at the Queen's Theatre. Stephenie had dragged us all over creation in the morning in order to get tickets, and I'm glad to report that it was worth it (and I only paid 20 pounds. Win). The show was beautiful, full of big, belty, Broadway classics that are still stuck in my head... very enjoyable. I did like Billy Elliot better, though, because I thought that it was more honest. But I mean, Les Mis is Les Mis, and it's hard to argue with that. Now I want to read the book!
On Tuesday we visited the gorgeous Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, a very famous Hindu Temple. They had a fantastic educational exhibit, so we learned about the basic Hindu beliefs and even got to take part in a prayer ceremony. Growing up as a Christian, I was always taught that the worship of idols is bad, but the Hindus believe that their idols are actually imbued with the spirits of the gods they represent. They dress the idols everyday, leave them food three times a day, and even put them down for afternoon naps. It was really interesting to see, and I learned a lot. Everyone there was so welcoming, too, and they were amazingly tolerant of other beliefs.
Wednesday was the two-week mark, which seems insane. I feel like I've been in London forever. I'm pretty sure that there's a time warp thing going on somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean. Time-space continuum aside, I visited the Sir John Soane Museum on Wednesday morning. Another fun fact about imperial nations--if you're rich, you can buy important artifacts from all over the world, stick them in your house, and then open it as a museum! Material culture again, I'm telling you. But Soane was an important architect in the Victorian Era, and he actually designed his home to hold all of these insane artifacts. I mean, the man has Hogarth paintings tucked in a little room, and there are Turner sketches on the secret walls that fold out from the main walls. He also built a crypt to house his Ancient Egyptian sarcophogus. Right then. The whole place reminded me of a wizard's house--it looks completely normal from the street, but you walk in and BAM! there's a giant wave of eccentricy streaming from every room. He had a Shakespeare shrine built into his wall. Win.
Thursday was yet another long day, but it was excellent. We visited the Tower of London, and I spent all morning there. It's extremely touristy, but it's also an incredible place in terms of British history.
We saw the Crown Jewels first (can't take pictures of them, though), where the guards talked to me and Liz for almost an hour. The magnificence of the various crowns is incredible. One of the kings once complained that he was tired of wearing the heavy crown (they're about five pounds)--Sir, you have over 2,000 diamonds on your head, which is more money than I will probably ever make in my life. Shut up.Liz and I spent the rest of the day investigating the Bloody Tower, where the Princes in the Tower were supposedly murdered (NOT by Richard III, thank you Shakespeare),
Tower Green, where Anne Boleyn was executed, 
and other fun, nerdy-awesome sights. The Bloody Tower is only named such because it's where the Princes were murdered (the picture shows the staircase in the White Tower where their skeletons were found), and Beauchamp Tower is where many political prisoners were kept, including Elizabeth I, Anne Boleyn, Robert Dudley, and Lady Jane Grey. The White Tower (not in Gondor) had a lot of fun exhibits, including armor from King Henry VIII. In Tudor times, the White Tower housed the armory, the Line of Kings exhibit, the chapel, the garrisons, and served many other important functions. Fun fact about the Tower of London: the royal ravens are also kept here. Legend says that when the ravens leave the Tower, the monarchy will fall. So what has the monarchy done? Clipped the ravens' wings. True story. Cheating? Yes.Thursday afternoon was spent at the British Library, which is mammoth. A lot of things here are mammoth--maybe the Brits feel that they have to keep reminding the world that, once upon a time, they had the biggest and the best of everything. But the Library is like a city unto itself, complete with eighteen thousand cafes and, of course, a gift shop. But I got my reader card and went through the "Treasures of the British Library" exhibit. This was absolutely amazing. They have the only surviving manuscript of Beowulf, arguably the mother-text of all subsequent English literature. Oh my gosh. I cried a little bit, not going to lie. In the same case was a gorgeous illuminated copy of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and further down the line was Jane Austen's journal and writing desk! Too much literature wonderfulness to handle! Other treasures included a typed and edited poem by Oscar Wilde, Shakespeare folios, hand-written Beatles lyrics, and a draft of a Wordsworth poem. Oh, and the Magna Carta. No biggie.
That gets us through most of the days, yeah? I'll catch up more later, but now I have to go to bed! Love and miss you all!
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