Time was ticking on my time in England. My visa was about to expire and I had booked a flight in two weeks’ time. I had to make the most of my time left. So, Jack and I decided to spend a day in London, mainly because I always wanted to visit the British Museum. It would be a shame to spend two years in the country and not see the museum. To be safe, I booked tickets ahead of time–they were free but, presumably because of the pandemic, we had to book a timeslot around one. Our train was early, so we arrived at London in the morning, with some time to kill.
Now, I don’t know if you know this about me or if you follow my other blog, but I am a book lover. I knew exactly what to do with our spare time: explore the city’s famous bookstores. First, we went to Daunt Books on Marylebone. The appeal of this store was to the traveler inside me–books were separated by different countries so you could travel the world in just a few steps. Then, we went to the London Review Bookshop, which I was under the impression was a secondhand store but the prices didn’t reflect that. It was small and a bit crowded, but I did buy a book there, so perhaps not so bad. Later, we went to perhaps one of London’s most famous bookstores: Foyle’s. Foyles holds the Guinness’s World Record for world’s largest bookshop in terms of shelf length (30 miles) and number of titles sold. The shop itself was six floors. It was Heaven to me, and I made sure to explore every floor. I did, however, show great self-restraint, and only bought two books.
Later, it was time for the British Museum. Talk about another huge place. We did so much exploring in there as each room or floor was dedicated by time period and religious history, but we couldn’t do it all. Some of my favorite exhibits included the actual mummies they had behind glass cases and the section for Ancient Egypt where they depicted statues once worshipped and the actual Rosetta Stone. I will say, I wish the museum was a bit more interactive. There was only so much information I could read before my eyes blurred over, and though I found it all interesting, I really needed something that could hold my attention longer.
Finding dinner was a bit hard on an evening in London when everyone seemed to be out on the town. We saw bars with lines stretching down a whole block. After ages, past the West End and Chinatown, we found a cute café with spots outside to eat. By the end of the meal and the end of the day, we were bone-tired. Thirty-thousand steps and a day of bookstores and museums does take a lot out of a person. But, I think that day in London completed all my London bucket list things, so that was a bonus.
Adventure is Out There 