The Return to London: Or, How Bailey Fell Asleep At the Worst Time Ever

When we were in London on Friday, someone suggested sleeping on a park bench or walking around until daylight so we wouldn't have to go to Oxford and then come straight back. I protested, mainly because Khanh was supposed to return with us today to explore the city.

That didn't happen. And thus, Khanh joined The League of Sketches. Which is a lot like The League of Shadows, except not at all.

Running on about four hours of sleep, I went to the bus station to meet Bailey and Josh. (Side note: Josh out dressed both of us. I don't remember getting a memo that we were dressing up. Although, in fairness, I may have just blown it off.). We caught an early bus, and I attempted to read The Children of Hurin. Because I'm a responsible student who understands that play must also be accompanied by hard work. At least, that's my story (and I'm sticking to it).

When we arrived in London, Josh had a few ideas of where we could go for breakfast close to the British Museum, but those didn't exactly work out. So we ended up getting coffee at this place with random Bollywood magazines.

Bailey was clearly made to be in front of the camera.

Josh and his magazines. I don't think I was enough for them.

After finishing breakfast, we headed to the British Museum, where we spent the greater part of the day. The best part about said museum? It's free. Basically, the British Museum is full of stuff from all the countries Britain managed to plunder. Oh, and there's a small room of Victorian England china. I'm exaggerating, but the collection and its variety is astounding.

As a fan of the Victorian poet, I was glad to see his words in an unexpected place.

The Rosetta Stone

Bailey and Josh became obsessed with the lion hunts. Boys.

We ran into a small conflict when Bailey wanted to go see the mock gladiator fights ... I told him to go, just without me. So he ended up not going. Josh and I went one way, and Bailey went the other so we could finish our preferred parts of the museum before we had to leave.

I loved seeing the Greek and Roman exhibits. It was like the myths came to life.

The Lewis Chess Set

Josh and pocket watches. I found this funny.

Josh and I ended up seeing a room full clocks, which I found entertaining since he keeps telling me to get a watch. Fun fact: I can't tell time. This makes a watch quite useless. Sadly, he didn't see my point. He instead decided to teach me to tell time. Similarly, Bailey thinks I should learn to ride a bike. This also will not happen.

Finally, we reunited with Bailey and left the museum to head to Harrods for lunch and The Sale. But not before we spent quite a bit of time taking pictures outside.

I really love the British Museum.

Harrods was a mistake. I do not like crowds. But we did see the toy section, which I enjoyed. Bailey disappeared. We ended splitting up to find him. We eventually got food and went to Hyde Park to eat. I was also sad we did not get to see the pet store part of Harrods. As Josh would say (not for the last time), it's something to come back for.

By taking me to Harrods, Josh cured me of my desire to shop.

After eating lunch, we rushed to get to Westminster Abbey for evensong. Once we reached the abbey, we waited in a long line with others to be seated. While we waited in line, we saw the graves of many famous scientists, including Charles Darwin and Isaac Newton. As some of you may know, Charles Dickens is buried at the abbey. One of the main reasons I wanted to go, I admit it, was to see his grave. And worship God.

Soon after we were seated, the service began. And at that moment, I realized that I did not feel well. Again. Of course, throughout the service, I fared better than Bailey ... who fell asleep while standing. Although he may correct me, I believe his story is that he woke up as he was falling and almost caught himself before crashing into his chair. But, at any rate, I was amused.

Once the service ended, we left — but not before seeing The Poet's Corner, which is where Blake, Tennyson, and my beloved Charles Dickens are buried. And that's when I realized pure joy. True story.  So then we left.

Outside the abbey; we couldn't take photos inside.

We stopped by the Turkish Coffee place Josh wanted to go to yesterday after the show but couldn't because it was closed. Bailey and Josh seemed to enjoy their coffee, and I became a storm cloud by asking if we could go home soon because I was starting to feel really unwell. So we left.

And, here I will admit (again) that I'm an unreliable narrator, somehow Josh agreed to make me white chocolate blueberry french toast in the morning. And by "me" I mean my flat. But I'm going to pretend like I'm special. Because, let's face it, I am. (I kid. Mostly.)

We went to Tesco to grab some stuff, and I decided I really, really, really wanted to make cookies. The only problem? I couldn't find cookie dough. I made the mistake of asking them for cookie dough in front of the ice cream, and they pointed me to the ice cream. So that wasted an hour of our lives.