Baker Street
So here we are starting with the Bakerloo line and where better to start than Baker Street.
First we looked around the shops, which mostly consisted of off licenses, independent shops, tourist shops, coffee shops, restaurants and the odd pharmacy. Further down the street, we find a store dedicated to the Beatles, called "The London Beatles Store" (http://www.beatlesstorelondon.co.uk/), which was pretty much next to the Sherlock Holmes Museum, our choice of destination.
The queue for the Sherlock Holmes Museum (http://www.sherlock-holmes.co.uk/) was quite long and we waited a good thirty minutes to reach the front. Whilst we waited to get inside, Coral took a look around the Beatles store, got a present for her Beatles loving mother, and continued to queue.
Halfway through queuing, we realise (as well as our fellow queuers) that we infact have to pay inside the gift shop for tickets for entry. There was no instruction in relation to ticket purchase - we luckily avoided getting to the front and having no tickets and having to re-queue!
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We got to the front (finally) to find that the guy dressed as a policeman taking photos with people at the front had gone to lunch. Come on! We were literally three people away! We were planning our photo opportunity, thinking of the profile picture epicness we would have had, putting on the stereotypical detective hat standing next to the policeman. But no, he went to lunch. Finally getting to the front, we were let inside.
We went straight up the narrow staircase to find a room. This room was what Sherlock Holmes' living room was meant to be. The museum was small with about four floors, with each staircase narrower than the next, and each room getting more strange, filled with creepy wax figures showing villains and good guys. It was an interesting visit.
We managed to find the world's smallest chair and sign our name in the guestbook. Even though it's rather small, it was a good little visit and worth the photo opportunity if you like that kind of thing. It's a cheaper Madame Tussauds really, haha.
So as we leave the Museum that follows out through the gift shop, after rummaging through the confectionary and trying on a top hat, we leave to find the policeman is back at the entrance. This is our moment if we push to the front and get the shot.
Funny thing is, Coral took a better picture inside in a detective top hat which ended up being her epic profile picture but overall, she was pleased with the picture. So that was Baker Street done. It would have been nice to venture a bit more but we're pretty sure we'll be returning. On to the next!
Harlesden
We arrive in Harlesden, probably the least commercial stop we've ever been to. It was weird getting out of the station as there was no hustle and bustle of a big station that we're used to.
From our planning for this trip, we were informed of a shopping centre, but we couldn't find it. Even locals said it was a while away. There was a sign we started to follow but then retreated back to Peter's Fish Bar for some chips. There was a curry advertised on the window which Coral asked for but apparently they had run out, so we decided on a portion of chips each. Very very good chips we must say, and a very reasonable price. With these chips, we embarked on our walk of Harlesden.
We didn't go too far, long enough to finish our chips, to stumble upon a McVities factory (http://www.mcvities.co.uk/about)! Not that we could go in and get a tour but we saw some lorries and took a selfie with a McVities sign, and with that we felt our mission of Harlesden was complete. We walked back to the station to continue our adventure.
Willesden Junction
Willesden Junction was our next choice of destination. We arrive not entirely enticed with what we had ahead for us, especially with our disappointment of no shopping at Harlesden.
We always get excited about new shopping locations incase we find unusual shops, as we get bored of the commercial similarities of what mainstream stores offer lately. Anyway, besides the point, when we planned this trip we didn't find much more than a street of shops just down the road from the station. The idea was to go to a cafe along the small street, but the prices were high and the shops didn't feel inviting enough to go inside. So to see if we could find anything, we thought lets repeat our Harlesden steps - lets follow our feet and see what we can find. We walked a while to be fair, passing many shops, practically making a u-turn on ourselves to another street. We found a very long road filled with multiple hair extensions stores, nail bars and chicken shops. We did wonder what kind of area we had stumbled upon when we came across a KFC with glass windows in front of the tills. We did find it rather amusing though.
The roads continued and wound round themselves and we're pretty sure we ended up in a Willesden Junction / Harlesden limbo. We realised this was probably the shops we were looking for at Harlesden. We found a Peacocks (http://www.peacocks.co.uk) that was probably the most well-known store we found. I'm not too sure how we found it, but in between all of the chicken shops and nail salons, we found a really cute Irish pub, called "The Royal Oak". It really is in the wrong location. It's in the middle of a not so inviting area should we say. When you walk in you no longer feel uneasy, you suddenly feel very comfortable, and that you no longer need to hold onto your bag for dear life.
We sat down after a long walk and enjoyed a coke. We were able to sit back, relax, and relive the success of the day. We then also had to start thinking of making a move as it was almost dinner time and we needed to find our way back to the train station. We were not letting it get dark here.
We manage to find our way back easily, not letting the twists and turns of the streets throw us.
Paddington
Dinner time! The original plan was to eat at a little pub called The Sawyers Arms but we were not feeling up to it as it was during the World Cup and there was a match going on. We didn't want to deal with the football fans and the crowded atmosphere.
We looked around for a bit and found numerous restaurants and pubs. We eventually decided on the more commercial restaurant, Garfunkels (http://www.garfunkels.co.uk/).
It was a pleasant end to the trip, you couldn't really go wrong! Although, just to go to the toilet was a pain. It was a trek and you had to practically leave the restaurant and go to the hotel next door.
All in all, our first trip was a success. We didn't really find the most exciting places but we had a good time. We accomplished something and ventured out of our comfort zone. We knew on this trip we wouldn't find the most exciting places but the adventure was enough. Our future trips can only get better!
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