Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Sherlock Holmes, Part One

TODAY WAS SHERLOCK HOLMES: DAY ONE! (Yes, there will be more than one day, who do you take me for?) So, if you don't care about my #1 passion, don't read this post, because it will probably bore you. There will be a following one (or I guess in this case, above this one) focusing on the bus tour we took this morning.

Still here? Okay, good. Here we go!

So, after the bus tour ended and we were dropped back at Connaught (again, post on that coming later,) I went on my own back to ISH to get some lunch, then I walked down Marylebone Road towards Baker Street. I'm not surprised they couldn't film any "Sherlock" scenes on Baker Street, because damn, there's a lot of stuff going on on that street. I saw more American fast food places there than I've seen anywhere else so far (a KFC and McDonald's were right next to each other,) and there were a ton of little shops. I made my way down to the end of the street, and THERE IT WAS, OMG.


I walked into the souvenir store right next to the flat entrance, where the copper (hehe) was standing, and paid six pounds for a ticket. I took one look around the shop and knew that at least 1/5 of the total amount of money I'm going to spend in London is probably coming from here. However, I'm jumping ahead, which Holmes doesn't like Watson to do, so I won't either. I left the shop and showed my ticket to the copper, who let me in.

AND WHAT DID I IMMEDIATELY SEE INSIDE?



God Sarah, I wish you could have been there with me. The whole thing is every Sherlockian's dream. And yes, that is the famous Reichenbach Falls drawing underneath the hats. I'm sorry that the picture's a little dark, I was trying to be respectful and not use flash.

I climbed up the stairs (yes, it is seventeen steps exactly) up to the sitting room and Holmes's bedroom, which was right next to the sitting room, as it should have been.



What I loved about the whole layout was how accurate it was. The Granada series (the one with Jeremy Brett) really followed this layout well. Here are some more pictures of the sitting room:





Yup yup^_^ That's the jackknife holding down the mail, and that's the Persian slipper which Holmes keeps his tobacco in. There was a bit too much stereotypical/Sydney Paget representation in the museum (like with the deerstalker hat,) but there were so many little things they included from the book canon that I thought it was an even trade.

Watson was there too!! Not my Watson, but still, we had a very pleasant conversation about how exasperating Holmes can be with not eating and sleeping most of the time. I double checked with him over what year it was for him (1895,) so I knew that Devil's Foot hadn't happened yet, when Holmes does end up having a physical fall-out. I reassured him that I was sure he would be fine, as long as he kept on him and made sure he took care of himself.

A few more pictures that I think the general readers of my blog would like to see include written documents of both Holmes and Watson's handwriting (the first two are Watson's, the second is Holmes's,) the Hound of Baskerville's head mounted on the wall (it was HUGE, geez,) and a wax bust of Moriarty as he's depicted in the Sydney Paget drawings:






I have TONS more pictures of things that were in the museum but which I'm pretty sure the majority of people reading this blog won't care about. However, other than Sarah Stone and Becca, anyone who wants me to e-mail the other pictures, please comment below or e-mail me^_^ Also, I took several pictures of the letter above Holmes wrote to Watson, which is during the Hound of the Baskerville's case, so I'd also be happy to send those to people who want to read the whole letter. Needless to say, I absolutely loved it from top to bottom.

Then I went back to the gift shop. I wanted to buy out the whole store, and there are definitely a number of items I'm going to go back for later, including a 15 pound pen and a framed oil painting of Holmes and Watson in their sitting room (30 pounds.) I ended up buying two items for my first trip- a t-shirt (which ended up being a lot bigger than I thought it would be, for a medium,) and an awesome booklet called "The Sherlock Holmes Walk," which gives directions on how to get to all of these different locations mentioned throughout the Sherlock Holmes canon. Guess who's doing that this weekend?

After leaving the museum, I walked over to the Baker Street tube station and went to Euston Square, technically a 20 minute walk, but I didn't feel like walking and knew that I would be walking back anyway. At Euston, I walked across to North Gower Street, the location of where the exterior Baker Street scenes were shot in the recent BBC mini-series "Sherlock." For some reason, I was even more excited about this than the Sherlock Holmes museum. More pictures!





Yes, I am a happy fangirl^_^ For anyone wondering why the sign for a restaurant is included here, it's a restaurant that's right next to the flat door that was used as 221b in "Sherlock." I read online a few months ago that their business has skyrocketed thanks to the show, so that's great for them.

After that, I walked back to ISH on Great Portland, and now I'm in my room typing up this post. My next one will be on the two hour bus tour of London, with more pictures attached!

Katie

8 comments:

  1. That is absolutely amazing. I'm not that surprised it had a lot of the stereotypical stuff, but I can't believe you met Watson! Plus the Hound's head is so cool.

    Was North Gower Street picked because it looked like Baker Street from the Granada series? Because I swear the picture of the doorway looks a lot like a couple screenshots I've seen from that.

    Anyway, I love the pictures. And I'm so happy for you that you got to visit Baker Street and North Gower Street. It looks like you had a blast.

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  2. It really wouldn't surprise me if that WAS the reason- I took one look at the street when I came onto it and knew it was perfect. I don't know where they filmed the exterior of Baker Street for the Granada series, but I'll definitely check. But that doorway is the exact one they used for Sherlock.

    I'm glad you enjoyed! I wish you could have been there to fangirl over it with me. I'll send you the rest of the pictures later this weekend.

    Is there anything you'd like me to get you from the gift shop? They've got just about everything- figurines, books, keychains, magnets, deerstalker hats and pipes, you name it.

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  3. Wow. I am so jealous. So very, very jealous.

    I would not have been able to resist picking up a Sandwich at Speedy's

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  4. Oh, I'm definitely going to get a sandwich at Speedy's sometime soon. When I was there, they were closed- I probably just missed their lunch time frame.

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  5. Thanks for the offer, but I'm all set.

    I'm really looking forward to see the other pictures. Do you mind if I print off one or two? I realized I don't have any SH pictures/posters in my room, and I should probably correct that.

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  6. So jealous! Do you know if Sherlock is filming in the next few months? Now THAT would be awesome...

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  7. They are! I'm pretty sure they're starting in March. I may or may not be stalking North Gower Street around that time, hehe.

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