Wednesday's Worldly Wonders - 221B Baker Street Is Actually on Gower Street

Introduction

Today I start my travel series, and since I'm a sucker for alliterations, I'm going with Wednesday's Worldly Wonders.

Notes:

• I am not Rick Steves.  I will share some tips, but they will be more like silly anecdotes that will probably be unhelpful for your own journeys.
• I am more like Waldo, and am sure that I have photobombed thousands of photos that are now floating around Facebook.  There was actually a story of a photographer who recently made contact with his photobomber from a trip to India seven years ago. 
• I link to certain websites because I found them helpful and/or I had great experiences with them.  I'm not being paid to do this.  I checked my bank account.  Still not a billionaire.  It's just to share with you some ideas of where you might want to go when you're in that part of the country!
• I have been to 18 different countries (5 for work and 13 for holiday, but those overlap to some degree)!
• I promise not to go overboard with photos.  Most of these posts will feature 5 at most.  Probably.

First up: 221B Baker Street Is Actually on Gower Street.

After I graduated this past May, I left the states to go on my European journey with some dear friends I've known since high school.  (We made this totally legit Eurotrip pact.)  I used this packing list to make sure I had all my essentials and end up with a luggage light enough to drag around with me!

Of course, I made sure to utilize Facebook to kindly let London know that she should be expecting a visitor soon:

After I arrived at the Heathrow terminal, I went to baggage claim. What I found odd was that the airport employees were dragging bags off the conveyor belt at the carousel and lining them up in rows on the floor, rather than letting them roll around on the belt for owners to pick up themselves.  (Maybe it's just a Heathrow thing?  I have never seen any other airport do this).  However, none of this mattered, since they "misplaced" my luggage and put it on another flight!  Waiting for my bag wasn't too big of a deal, because I followed pro-tip #37491: keep a change of clothes and your toiletries in your carry-on (mine was a backpack), and roll everything!  I swear by rolling rather than folding.

After finally gathering my things, we checked into The Imperial Hotel in London, which is a great home base for central London.  It is located in the Russell Square area, close to Russell Square park. Bathrooms are small and the beds are twin-sized, but it's clean, has great concierge staff, and sells discounted tickets for Big Bus, theatre shows, museums, etc. 

It was rainy and foggy (pro-tip #37429: pack an umbrella, because it is still cold and rainy in May for most of western Europe), but we didn't let that stop us.  We bought Big Bus tickets rather than Hop-On-Hop-Off because their routes were more flexible and the rate that The Imperial Hotel gave made them cheaper.  We took the green from Russell Square, hopped off in Camden, and then walked to 187 North Gower Street.  "Why this particular address?" you ask... and I answer, "because that's where 211B Baker Street is, stupid!" Actually, this is where BBC's Sherlock films Baker Street. Unfortunately, the 211B was replaced with the original 187, but it still looks the same below:

Hmmm... someone left a note on the door.  What does it say?

Silly John.  The fridge is for body parts. Where would you put the milk?

Because I'm nice, I knocked anyway to make sure that Sherlock got the message.

Though the Sherlock set was off-season, I'm glad that they still left the Speedy's awning in place!

Stay tuned for next week's Wednesday's Worldly Wonders!