legal deposit libraries, sapphic lysander, cheeky nandos

I can’t lie, pals, the absolute last thing I want to do right now is write this Substack article. But I did just get the Wordle in three, and that sort of revived me.

This morning, we rushed to the British Library and made it in time for our 10:30 tour. I must say, every time I enter a library with loads of funding and materials, I feel this horrid rage bubbling up inside me. It’s the most innate feeling I ever experience (jokes, jokes). It’s the most beautiful and expansive opening I’ve ever seen—King George’s collection of books displayed the second you walk in seems to stretch to the stars. We join our group and head around the library, led by a nice man called Patrick. I do believe it would be incredibly fun to be a tour guide. Hope I get to experience this profession someday.

I think one place where Abby and I have been going wrong is how we’ve been dealing with our museum fatigue, which is really starting to hit us at this point in the trip. We want to experience a place in its entirety (or as well as we possibly can), but aren’t at a point mentally or physically (Abby has flat feet) where we can stand and read every single plaque. So it just feels like every time we’ve walked into a museum/place-to-read-loads-of-plaques-and-look-at-objects, we’ve just been really dismissive of things we’d typically be able to pay much better attention to. That’s why I’m really glad we booked this British Library tour, and wish we’d done it in more places—nice change of pace and learned loads of things about the building and its history that I never would have found out otherwise. For example, the British Library is a legal deposit library, which means it receives a copy of everything published in the UK. Cue my intense jealousy once again.

The treasures room of the library is one of our favorite experiences so far this trip. We’re both huge fans of the literary scene (two English majors walk into a library), so being able to see Jane Austen and Virginia Woolf’s original manuscripts, an original copy of Beowulf, and a first Shakespeare folio is kind of huge for us.

We get bagels for lunch, and the guy at the cash register gives me the “local discount”. Can’t really figure out how/why this happened because my accent is fiercely Californian. But hey, I’m not complaining. I’ll take a pound off an expensive bagel.

We rush to the Tube for our matinee at Shakespeare’s Globe—we’re about to see Midsummer Night’s Dream! Tickets are crazily cheap. I got them months ago, for about five pounds each. The only hindrance is the experience itself—we’re “groundlings,” which means we have to stand directly next to the stage for the entire show. I’m dreading this a bit—it’s very warm, and we’re already quite tired from the nearly two weeks now of traipsing around Paris and London.

But it’s great fun—one of the best theatre experiences I’ve had in my entire life. I believe they knew some might not stay engaged or focused on the plot, so they shifted. It was incredibly showy, with loads of bubbles, streamers, dancing, and audience involvement. The show was also so vehemently queer that at the end, you really can’t imagine watching it any other way. I love WLW Lysander and Hermia. The only time you realize how long you’ve been standing in one place is when it ends. I even caught a rose from Lysander and Hermia’s wedding, but unfortunately had to give it back to an attendant. He seemed very surprised when I handed it back though—I think most steal it.

The Shakespeare gift shop was somehow the most crowded and condensed space of this trip so far, even worse than the British Museum gift shop and Montmartre.

After the show, Abby and I get ice cream and sit next to the Thames to eat and assess our next move (which Nando’s to eat at). We decide on the one around the corner.

Man, I love Nando’s. I wish we had a Nando’s at home. Abby and I both get five chicken wings and two sides (mac and cheese and mashed potatoes for me, coleslaw and French fries for her). There’s bottomless peach iced tea and bottomless vanilla soft serve, which might just be my favorite words in the world. Although I’m saying this, I didn’t even have any because we had just gotten ice cream. Might have to go back. I do have to say though, we both got medium spice, and it just tasted very mild. UK indicator. Will order it spicier next time. Nando’s also has ice water, something I’ve begun to just believe is a beautiful myth.

Took the Tube to the National Gallery. I think this is my favorite museum so far—since we’ve gone late on a Friday (good pro tip, it’s open till nine on Fridays), there are very few people there. Since the museum is free, there’s loads of artists in there, propped up on their fold-up stools and sketching the paintings in the gallery. It’s also very cool, which a lot of our recent museums can’t relate to. Talking to you, British Museum and the Louvre. There are so many beautiful paintings, but the museum is small enough to be manageable. I end up remembering loads from these children’s books my mom used to read to my sister and me, about a girl named Katie who crawled into paintings from the Gallery.

Back to the AirBNB after that. Abby says this was her favorite day of the trip so far.