Day 39 (I'm still playing catch-up) was our official Run-Through-Museums-'Til-Dylan-Cries-for-Mercy day.  Dylan and I were originally going to start things off with the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, but as soon as we stepped off the tube at the Green Park station, a policeman informed us that the guard change only takes place on odd days in August.  Boo!  Dylan was pretty disappointed (we'd already missed the guard change once before), but I promised to take him the next day.

The only thing we had definitely scheduled for the day was a 1:00 musical performance at the St. Martin-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square.  Since it was only 10:30 in the morning, I figured we'd have plenty of time before that to explore the Natural History, Victoria and Albert, and Science Museums (all just across the street from the Hyde Park LDS meetinghouse).  As it turned out, however, that was a bit optimistic.  There was such a huge line at the Natural History Museum that we ended up skipping that museum altogether, and we barely had time to breeze in and out of the other two. 

Actually, we were able to hit the main things in the Victoria and Albert museum--the Raphael paintings, the fashion-through-the-ages displays, the Renaissance sculpture replicas, the stained glass exhibit, and--our personal favorite--the musical instruments hall.  Last time I came to the V and A, the music exhibits had been completely closed.  This time, however, they were open, and Dylan and I were able to see all sorts of bizarre, exotic instruments from all ages and all regions.  It was fascinating!  I could've spent hours in there, but unfortunately, we had to hurry to the science museum before our time was up.

I dragged Dylan around the main floor of the Science Museum, hurriedly pointing out interesting displays and breezing past huge exhibits.  Poor Dylan!  We only got to spend about fifteen minutes total in that museum before running to the tube in order to make our concert on time.

We arrived at St. Martin-in-the-Fields just minutes before an incredible duo piano recital began.  The two performers (best known as musical theater and opera accompanists) played three dramatic sets of pieces by Poulenc, Mozart, and Faure.  I enjoyed the Faure numbers especially.  They ranged from lighthearted to soaring to quirky, and I really want Dylan and I to play them together someday.  :-)

Then it was time to visit the National Gallery (just across the street from St. Martin chapel).  Dylan was enthralled and bit overwhelmed, and I'm afraid that I rushed the poor kid from room to room a little too quickly for his liking, since I've visited the museum four times.  Still, we managed to make it through all of the major rooms, and Dylan was able to see famous paintings from all eras and genres.  He got so excited over certain paintings, chattering on and on about how he'd studied this and that about the artists' styles and techniques.  I was so impressed!  That kid knows more about art than I do.

After he'd purchased four or five of his favorite paintings on postcards, I finally dragged a reluctant Dylan from the art galleries and onto the tube.  I was pretty sure that the British Library closed at 5:00, and I really wanted to take Dylan there that day.  We rushed into the tube station, and when we stepped out again, it was raining--no, pouring!  I had no idea how to get to the library (despite having been there two times before!), so we just grabbed our umbrellas, chose a direction, and RAN!   Luckily, our instincts (and guidebook) led us to the library before long, and there we discovered that the library exhibitions don't close until 6:00.  That gave Dylan plenty of time to explore the library's wonders.  I don't think he was quite as thrilled by all the documents as Kristine and I had been, but he definitely enjoyed the Magna Carta and the composer manuscripts.

When he had finished soaking in the contents of the library exhibition, the two of us went to Tesco for a cheap dinner (20 pence for cheese rolls!).  :-)  We then headed to Baker's Street where, despite the pouring rain, we snapped pictures with the Sherlock Holmes statue, walked past Madame Tussaud's and the Royal Academy of Music, and then ducked inside the massive Emporium.  The Emporium (a gigantic tourist shop) actually turned out to be a lot of fun.  They have life-sized police and queen's guards manequins there and an entire corner of the store is decorated like Sherlock Holmes' house.  We had a great time picture-taking!  Dylan was also able to chose some small souvenir gifts to bring back to the family.

By this time, the rain had stopped, and Dylan and I decided to visit Queen Mary's Gardens.  When we entered the rose garden, Dylan went into raptures.  He says that Queen Mary's Gardens are EXACTLY how he pictured English parks.  We wandered through at our leisure, soaking in the beauty and taking pictures on the bridges, beneath the waterfalls, and amongst the roses.  Dylan was thrilled by everything we saw.

At last, we decided to head home.  When we arrived back at the house, we found the family spending a fun Friday evening together.  Dylan and I heated up some chicken noodle soup and watched the family playing spoons as we ate it.  Then, Michelle pulled out tubs and tubs of Ben and Jerry's ice-cream, and we all chatted over decadent bowls of the stuff!  I was so glad that Dylan finally got to meet the family.  He was absolutely charmed by them all.  They teased Dylan about liking museums and cultural things so much and asked him if he was starting to burn out.  When he pretended (or so he claimed privatey afterwards!) that he was finally sick of museums ("I didn't want them to think I was weird!") they all breathed a sigh of relief and congratulated him on being at least somewhat like a teenage boy!

Dylan and I became pretty drowsy after an hour or two of chatting, so we finally excused ourselves and CRASHED in bed.  What a full, full day!