In some ways I felt like I had been training all my life for my trip to England. I've watched hour and after hour of British comedies, heard my British Grandmother tell her stories of her days in England before moving to America, tried to solve the mystery before Sherlock Holmes or Hercules Poirot did in their novels. I know the place names from all around London even if I have no idea where they are actually located or what the place actually looks like. Shepherd's Bush, Charing Cross, Blackfriars, Waterloo, Covent Garden...these places live in my mind the same way a fantasy location like Middle Earth or Endor would. I actually did visit a few of those locations and a few I decided to save for my next trip.
But one location, probably more than any other, I was going to see and on our first full day no less. I really didn't know that Baker Street, fictitious home of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, was one of the busiest stops on the London Underground. This first post in this three-part post will show off some of the Sherlock Holmes are that is in the Baker Street station. In Part 2, we will visit the famous Sherlock Holmes museum located at what is today's 221B Baker Street and in Part 3 take a Sherlock Holmes tour to show some real locations highlighted in the novels.
But first the Underground art.
We have Sherlock with his trademark pipe. This sort of pipe, called a Calabash pipe, was never specifically used by Holmes in the short stories and novels, and instead was made popular through its use as a prop by the actor H.A. Saintsbury in the many plays featuring the detective.
Much like a piece of modern pop-art the image is made up of many smaller Sherlocks.
There is another corresponding Sherlock in red...
...and a portion where the red and black mix and if you stare at it long enough you eyes start playing tricks on you.
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