London and the British Museum

My bus pulled into Victoria Station just as the sun was rising above the Thames. 

Tourists were already swarming Big Ben as it shone in the light of the rising sun, but the small crowd of people was nothing compared to what the afternoon would bring. I had braved the crowds once to get my stock tourist photographs, and I certainly wasn't going to do it again. This London trip was going to be full of new and different experiences and sights I had decided, not repeating the same old ones again.

The British Library was my first tourist stop in London, it was free and well worth it. Unfortunately only having my phone on me meant crappy photos. On the left you can see the original note-music written by Bach, and on the right a book of church music from the 1400s. There were many other such treasures, including sheet music by Beethoven, the first hand writings of the Beatles including 'Help!' and 'Yesterday' and a hand-written letter by Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.

These two items were my favourite in the entire museum, on the left is Beowulf, the epic poem written in Old English and dating from sometime in the 10th or 11th C. It is the only known surviving medieval manuscript and as such was extremely cool to see. On the right is one of the letters written from Winston Churchill during Wold War II to the 'Monuments Men' who attempted to preserve and rescue art that was being stolen and destroyed by the Germans.

Lastly, some rather cool architecture from my London wandering.