Well, to be more accurate, would a Holmes by any other location smell as… Intuitive? Seeing as though this is a literature class about London, our discussion of Sherlock Holmes this morning revolved not only around Holmes as a character, but also how London acts as a character in the text. Frankly, that’s kind of what I have planned for my final essay in this class, so I’ll be able to use some of that discussion in how I frame my argument. I don’t really want to talk too much about what we did in the classroom today, specifically because the afternoon’s instruction was so much cooler! If you aren’t aware of what I did this afternoon, you haven’t been reading this blog. If you have, you’ll know that Nick took us to the Sherlock Holmes Museum!

Now, if I’m most excited about The Tempest for my Shakespeare class, Sherlock Holmes is definitely what I’m most excited for in my London Lit class. Now, I already stopped at the gift shop once before (and came away with many, many, many random thingies of sleuthly awesomeness), but I hadn’t gotten the chance to actually go inside the museum. There was, unfortunately, a long line going in, but the museum itself is really interesting and fun for someone familiar with Holmes’ stories. The study was definitely the best part, and they actually let you take pictures in the deer-stalker and sitting chairs! It’s a very small gesture, but one that I enjoyed to no end. Honestly, I would love to actually live in the little house the museum is housed in; the study just radiates the qualities I look for in somewhere to sit for hours on end, and the furniture is all so charming I couldn’t help getting giddy whenever I used it! It was really a great experience for a literature nerd like myself, and I did actually make it down the gift shop again afterwards. I know, they reel you in with the deer-stalker pictures and force you to buy random things you don’t need! I’m not particularly bitter though; I am quite happy with the little doo-dads I got between both visits, and I think the miniature Holmes will go nicely with my puzzle cubes at home.

After seeing the museum, the Holmes revelry did not actually end. My friend and I went to the Sherlock Holmes Pub, which is not associated with museum and is not located on Baker Street. (Fun factoid: though the museum’s location is actually around 241 Baker Street, they petitioned the city to get special permission to have its address be 221B Baker Street. The actual position of where 221B Baker street would be is denoted by a statue of the great detective.) The pub was really cool, and had a lot of similar things to the Sherlock Holmes Museum, but with a much more theatrical flair. It was a really nice place to sit and read, and the food was pretty decent. By the time I ultimately got home, I was quite pleased with the amount of Holmes I received.

I would lament the passing of our class studying Sherlock Holmes, but I’m too busy being excited for Stratford-Upon-Avon! Seriously, I’m so excited about this I can hardly stand it! I’ll be sure to leave a post when I get home tomorrow night, but I don’t know how long it will be. It takes a couple hours to get there and another couple to get back, so I could be home a little late, and besides, I’m off to Paris the day after. I need to get some sleep in order to function for what is sure to be an amazing day, so I’m off. Good night, all, and I wish you as good a day as I’ll be having tomorrow!