Very nice
I was just thinking how we could get our hands on a 2nd golden age, and there it is.
The other ways are worth investigating...
1) Build the Taj Mahal somehow and use the great scientist to bulb chemistry (after getting gunpowder) and then use the great merchant for a trade mission.
Taj Mahal is 700 hammers... That is 11+ turns of washington in bureacracy. We would sacrifice drafting and get the GA ~T180 instead.
Edit: Stone could build Taj in 10 turns, mabraham points out.
Doesn't seem good to me.
2) trade or steal guilds and banking and research economics (2184) That is about 4 turns of post GA-post bureacracy teching. So the GA would be triggered as early as T172 but obviously teching economics would slow down teching mass media.
Edit: Of course we could probably tech economics before starting mass media and never interrupt the GA.
Trigger GA with GS from GPFarm and the merchant from economics on T172 and slow down Mass Media research.
This would give us the Great Person from GPFarm to play with (a great merchant to run a trade mission, or a great scientist to bulb chemistry)
I think we might be able to afford to delay mass media by 4 more turns to get economics and the earlier 2nd GA, and the Great person from GPFarm can be a scientist to help us get chemistry. The earlier 2nd GA would help us tech Mass Media too. So might be able to shave off the delay economics imposed by 1 turn or so.
Since we anticipate that the UN can be built and ready before we are ready for it.
I think teching nationalism before the end of the GA (so we can switch to nationhood), and then teching economics for an earlier 2nd GA, then use the great person after next in GPFarm to bulb Chemistry (stealing gunpowder along the way).
Tech nationalism after economics so we can run GA continuously. In 2nd GA start the Taj Mahal for the 3rd GA.