The first and main stop of our day was the Sherlock Holmes Museum! The museum is set up in the real 221B Baker Street, a very narrow row home. Interesting fact - the street numbers don't line up because most of the block was destroyed in the London Blitz and was renumbered when it was rebuilt. However, because of the fame of the 221B address, they decided to keep that one the same even if it didn't line up with the new numbering.
It was surprising just how crowded it was! The line stretched about halfway down the block, but actually moved very quickly. They let us in in groups in order to manage traffic. Unlike many museums, it was more of a display. We were expecting a bit more information on Conan Doyle and his life and writing. Instead, the place was set up as if Sherlock and Watson could walk in at any moment and solve crimes. The props were all replicas, so visitors could pick them up and handle them and take photos. Therefore, there are some pretty fantastic photos of us with the Sherlock hat and pipe, sitting in his chair.
The crowd thinned out once we got upstairs and outside of the main living room. The upstairs contained Sherlock and Watson's bedrooms along with a few more props. However, two of the rooms contained rather eerie wax statues of various characters from the books, which were rather disconcerting. I took a few photos with them but still am not sure how I feel about them. Currently rethinking my visit to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, though I'll probably still try to get there.
Following our trip to the museum (and an obligatory stop at the gift shop) we wandered around Regent's Park for a while, enjoying the birds and people. Sadly, the outdoor theatre doesn't open until May, because we would have loved to see a show there!
Our wanderings then took us to King's Cross Station and Platform 9 3/4. Morgan and Shira had already done the photo op but were nice enough to wait while Sara and I got our photos taken. I totally didn't cry when walking into King's Cross. Nope, not me!
The Platform 9 3/4 photos were very well set up, in my opinion. The line moved through fairly quickly and they had great people with wonderful energy running things. When it was your turn, you got to put on a house scarf of your choice (oh the looks I got when I selected Slytherin) and they posed you with the trolly that's halfway into the wall. You get the chance to take your own photos and then they take one professionally which you can choose to buy or not. Then you're left to find the shop and buy your photos. It was incredibly exciting and I loved the way my picture turned out! It was very hard to resist buying ALL of the Harry Potter things, but I reminded myself that I was going to the Studio Tour in a few weeks. And I'm sure my little sister will kill me if I come back from that without something fun for her.
Our day ended with dinner at our local pub, the Glouster Arms where I fed my addiction to British meat pies. I don't know what I'm going to do when I go home and don't have easy access to these any more! I guess I'll need to learn to make my own!
Yum!
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