Our first foray into London included a bucket list item (at least for me). In all the time I lived in England, I never went to Abbey Road and took a picture in the zebra crossing made famous by the Beatles. (Did you know that there are also puffin, pelican, and toucan crossings? More on that another time.) We took the Tube to St. John’s Wood station and walked southwest along Grove End Road about a third of a mile to the crosswalk. It was easy to find because there were already people there taking pictures (and impeding traffic). It occurred to me how weird this little exercise is and that locals must hate it. Sorry, locals.
The crosswalk itself is unremarkable, and since it was a cold Sunday in early March, the area didn’t look much like the album cover. Some kind of work was in progress on the adjacent curbs and gutters, which didn’t help. We took the obligatory pictures anyway. Individually, because it was just the two of us; we need to go back with a group. To imitate the album cover, the photographer has to stand in the middle of the road, which is not a good idea these days. I’m guessing the road was far less busy in the 60s. If this is on your bucket list, my recommendation is to get there early in the morning before traffic picks up.
From Abbey Road we walked to Baker Street to see if the Sherlock Holmes Museum wasn’t insanely busy. It was. The museum is fairly new; it didn’t exist when I lived here before. I suspect the many modern reboots of Sherlock Holmes inspired the money-making scheme, er, I mean museum. It appears to be working. We stopped by when we were in London a few years ago and there was an even longer line then. That time, we skipped it and instead figured out where 221b would be if it existed, which it didn’t and doesn’t. This time, we went to The Volunteer pub a few doors up the street.
It was British Pie Week—the US has National Pie Day in January, but the UK has a whole week for pie! There were several kinds to choose from, but we both had steak and ale pie with a pint of ale, you know, for balance. We recommend The Volunteer if you’re in the area (for Sherlock Holmes and/or Madame Tussaud’s, which is around the corner). They have good pub food at reasonable prices (we spent just under £25), and the service is friendly. It was fairly busy for a Sunday before noon, but we had no trouble finding a table.
If we ever make it into the Sherlock Holmes Museum, we’ll report back and let you know if it’s worth it. Who knows? If we show up early for an Abbey Road photo shoot, maybe we’ll beat the crowds on Baker Street as well. Now, there’s a plan!
After lunch, it was on to The British Museum. Which is practically a world tour in itself. Highlights include the Rosetta Stone, a statue from Easter Island, numerous marble sculptures from the Parthenon, remains of a Viking ship, and Egyptian mummies. And there’s so much more than that. We cracked a few jokes about ‘plundering the empire’ while we were walking around and ran into statements where the museum defends itself against such sentiments. It’s not all plunder, of course, but it is all magnificent and worth seeing. We plan to go back regularly (mostly during the off season) and hope to see it all over the time that we’re here.
What you need to know about visiting The British Museum:
- Free entry, but there’s a line for the security bag check (which moves efficiently). We recommend not bringing bags or minimizing what you carry. There’s a size limit on what you can take in the museum.
- You can’t possibly see (and appreciate) it all in one day, so prioritize and make a plan before you go. The museum website is a great resource for this.
- Grab a map when you walk in—it’s easy to get lost in, say, ancient Egypt, and you’ll need the map to find your way back out (or to a restroom).
- Coat check available inside the museum for a fee.
- Restrooms available, but often crowded (avoid the first ones as you come in and don’t wait until you’re desperate).
- Food and drink, including kid friendly options, available for purchase inside.
