The British Library

"You have a library?"

 "Oh yes! Indeed! With books! Gads of books!

Mountains of books! Forests of books!

Cascades of books! Swamps of books.

 More books than you'll ever be able to read in a lifetime!

Books on every subject ever studied, by every author who ever

              set pen to paper..."

For those of you who have seen Disney's Beauty and the Beast you'll know what I'm on about. The beast shows Belle into his castle library which is full of books as high as the ceilings! The British library is not far off. Call me a nerd but I got excited about visiting the British library and spent nearly the entire day there gazing at the King’s Library. His bookcase reaches over three floors in the centre column of the library and just spirals upwards! Amongst other treasures are documents and books by many famous people.

I gazed upon old sacred texts and read lyrics from John Lennon as he scribbled them on ripped up sheets of paper, the back of his son’s birthday card (lyrics for Yesterday) or anything else he could find. I peeked at Da Vinci’s notepad (this was fun after spending a weekend in Paris running around the Louvre) and Michelangelo’s sketch book for early drawings of ‘David’.

I learned about early day exploration of the Artic and saw the original diary of the English explorer who sadly perished on his incredible journey north.

Children are welcome and the first floor has a small café and meeting/eating area. This is also a fully functioning library and so reading rooms on all floors are available just ask at the help desk for a reading pass. Not everyone gets excited over the smell of books like myself, but if you do; venture to the British Library. You will not be disappointed.