The Coolest Thing I Ever Saw In London

A few years ago, when I was traveling to London for the first time, I sought recommendations and advice from my traveler friends and from my Anglophile friends and family. And somewhere in the midst of all the suggestions was one I thought sounded a little odd: The British Library.

Now, I am a huge lover of the library. I visit our library at least once or twice a week and I'm constantly immersed in at least one novel and 4-6 nonfiction books at any given moment. But visit a library in a foreign land? Such a thing had never occurred to me.

However, my stepmother was adamant that The British Library was something special and something we'd enjoy, so I figured, heck, why not? What I discovered was the single coolest thing that one can see in London. Period. I've seen the Tate Modern. I've seen Victoria and Albert. I've seen the Tower of London and I've seen a lot of other stuff. And hands down, The British Library is the coolest thing I've ever seen in London.

So what makes The British Library so intense? Let's see...

• Shakespeare's first folio.
• The original Alice in Wonderland in Lewis Carroll's handwriting.
  
• The Magna freaking Carta. The original one, the document known as the cornerstone of liberty. 
• Leonardo da Vinci's original notebooks with his handwriting.
• The Gutenberg Bible, the first book printed on a printing press.
• Illuminated manuscripts.
• George Frideric Handel's Messiah, in Handel's handwriting.
• The Diamond Sutra, the oldest dated printed book.
• The original Canterbury Tales.
• Original writings from the Bronte sisters and Jane Austen.

And that's just the start. I'm telling you, The British Library is an absolute treasure trove of moments that, quite literally, brought tears to my eyes, and if I had just one day in London, I'd spend it there. If you do go to London, do not miss it.