I claim the gems and stone. I really could have used the stone earlier. I want to explore those German borders to the north. Is there another island I don't know about?
Bismarck screws me big time completing Notre Dame before I even could finishing research of engineering. It seems like slow economy from hyper-expansion is start hurting me. I get an artist that is merged into Harih. I capture the barb city.
The lake city hits the magic number.
Angkor Wat is completed. I get an engineer that will go on ice for a while. I complete the Taj Mahal in 1340 AD and trip my first golden age. The University of Sankore is completed. I declare war on Pascal in 1370 AD. His 8 city empire is a joke, and I really want those holy cities.
Mayapan and Uxmal fall in 1380 AD. The game becomes a total mess when Pascal vassals to Cathy and drags me into a two front war. If I saw this coming, I wouldn't have bothered with Pascal. I am forced into pure military mode which is 100% incompatible with building up my cities for a cultural win. One look at my cities below show my plans well. I still have more religions to spread to them, and I am not done with cathedrals.
The amount of drafting / whipping I've been forced to do has probably cost me at least one place in the population at 1500 category. Chichen Itza falls in 1420 AD. I was forced to finish liberalism in 1460 AD when I saw Germany to close. I take constitution. I was hoping I could pull democracy from it. Lakamha falls in 1490 AD. I now control the completed Confucian holy city already worth $24 / turn.