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One of literature’s most memorable sleuths hits the big screen in Sherlock Holmes, directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Robert Downey Jr., which opens tomorrow in the U.S. and on Saturday in the UK. If the film awakens your inner detective, here are five ways to make like Sherlock Holmes in London.
Pay a Visit to 221b Baker Street. At the Sherlock Holmes Museum (left), the detective’s Victorian-era quarters have been vividly re-created just as they’re described in A Study in Scarlet and other tales. On display are his most prized possessions, including his deerstalker cap and the Persian slipper where he stored his tobacco. Click here to read more about the famous lodging place.
Take a Walking Tour. “What do you say to a ramble through London?” Holmes once asked his sidekick, Dr. Watson. Follow suit with the walking tour “In the Footsteps of Sherlock Holmes.” Like the detecting duo, you’ll be ”watching the ever changing Kaleidoscope of life as it ebbs and flows through Fleet Street and the Strand.” Among the sights are Charing Cross Station, where Holmes and Watson often dashed to hop a train in hot pursuit of a clue, and Covent Garden’s Royal Opera, where they caught a Wagner performance in The Red Circle Case. Tours are given on Fridays at 2 p.m. (except Christmas Day).
Check into The Langham Hotel. Holmes creator Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle dined at The Langham in 1889 with a magazine editor who commissioned his second novel, The Sign of Four (playwright Oscar Wilde was also at the dinner). The luxurious Regent Street hotel is featured in the Holmes adventure A Scandal in Bohemia and other tales. Through April 30, 2010, guests can opt for the ”Sherlock Holmes Package” and slumber in the split level suite named for Conan Doyle. Also included are two tickets to the Sherlock Holmes Museum (a short stroll away), a gift from the Langham Book Butler, and a specially-created “Sherlock Holmes” cocktail in the hotel bar.
Dine in Sumptuous Surroundings. Holmes and Watson mulled over clues and celebrated the end of successful cases at Simpson’s-in-the-Strand, which serves traditional English fare in an elegant dining room adorned with wood paneling, molded ceilings, and chandeliers. The restaurant, which dates to 1828, is famous for its roasted meats carved tableside from antique serving ware. Real-life luminaries like Charles Dickens and Vincent Van Gogh dined here as well.
Toast Holmes and His Creator. Savor a pint at the Sherlock Homes pub, which featured as the Northumberland Hotel where Sir Henry Baskerville slumbered in The Hound of the Baskervilles. Or head to the Museum Tavern, located opposite the British Museum where Conan Doyle once made use of the domed, circular reading room. The scribe is thought to have used the Tavern as the doppelgänger for the Alpha Inn where the Christmas Goose Club meets in The Blue Carbuncle.
Now what are you waiting for? As Sherlock Holmes would say, “Come, the game is afoot!” –Shannon McKenna Schmidt
[Photos: Sherlock Holmes Museum ©Joni Rendon; Langham Hotel ©Langham Hotels International]
In follow-up to our recent post on “The best literary sites for kids”, we wanted to report on a new study issued last week by the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), which found that additional funding and staffing are urgently needed for the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site to ensure the continued preservation of its historic structures and archival collections.
Although the poet’s literary career is most often associated with the Windy City and Midwest prairies, Sandburg moved to Connemara Farm (located outside of Asheville, NC) in 1945 so that his wife, Lilian, could have the benefit of the South’s greener pastures and longer grazing seasons for her goat-breeding operation.
Sandburg’s three-story house and all of its possessions were donated to the National Park Service by Lilian after her husband’s death in 1967. Today, some 85,000 visitors a year, including many children, visit the site to tour the house, view descendants of Lilian’s prize-winning dairy goats (still raised on the farm today) and hike the five miles of trails that the Sandburg family once enjoyed. Click here to find out ways to help support this vibrant literary site or here to take a virtual tour of the museum.
An ivory and gold toothpick once owned by Charles Dickens was sold at auction yesterday in New York City for $9,150. The item is engraved with the author’s initials and was sold by heirs to the Barnes and Noble family.
An authentication letter from Dickens’s sister-in-law, Georgina Hogarth, says the author used the toothpick up to his death in 1870. Dickens’s work has enjoyed enormous popularity in America since the author’s own lifetime, when he took two extended reading tours of America, lodging for part of the time at the Omni Park House Hotel in Boston, where he was feted by Longfellow and Emerson. Dickens was also honored at a farewell banquet at Delmonico’s in New York City. Unfortunately, the punishing rigors of his final American trip–during which he delivered 75 readings–caused his already failing health to rapidly deteriorate, contributing to his premature death at the age of 58.
Andrea Rotondo, host of today’s Travel Bloggers’ Caravan site-of-the day, LuxurySafariExperts.com, tells us about an off-the-beaten path landmark that has inspired many writers and explorers of both past and present: Zambia’s Victoria Falls.
Missionary David Livingstone, who wrote extensively about Africa in his memoirs and journals in the mid-1800s, was most likely the first European to ever document and view the falls. “In looking down into the fissure…one sees nothing but a dense white cloud, which, at the time we visited the spot, had two bright rainbows on it. From this cloud rushed up a great jet of vapor exactly like steam, and it mounted 200 or 300 feet high; there condensing, it changed its hue to that of dark smoke, and came back in a constant shower, which soon wetted us to the skin…”
Writer Paul Theroux was also taken in by the majestic grandeur of the falls. “Few sights in Africa can equal Victoria Falls for sheer physical beauty,” he wrote in his travelogue Fresh Air Fiend. “What makes them so loud, so smoky-seeming, so dramatic, is the slender steepness and the great depth of the chasm.”
For more great destinations in Africa, vist the Travel Bloggers’ Caravan site-of-the day, LuxurySafariExperts.com, and post a comment on their blog today for a chance to win folding noise-cancelling headphones courtesy of Magellan’s Travel Supplies.
[Photo courtesy of the Royal Livingstone Hotel.]
Terri Fogarty, host of today’s Travel Bloggers’ Caravan site-of-the day, EuropeUpClose.com, shared with us her favorite literary landmark: the Jane Austen Centre (left) in Bath, England. “Located in a city featured prominently in two of her novels (Northanger Abbey and Persuasion), the Centre offers a glimpse of the life and times of my favorite author. It also features a traditional tea room and a fantastic gift shop,” says Terri.
EuropeUpClose.com is a fabulous travel guide to Europe with tips, news, information on deals, and articles on topics ranging from Vienna winter events to enjoying Italian espresso. One article that we especially enjoyed is Jane Austen’s Hampshire, about the area in the south of England where the scribe spent most of her life.
Post a comment on Terri’s blog today for a chance to win a Fujifilm FinePix J28 10MP digital camera with 3x optical zoom.
Today’s Travel Bloggers’ Caravan stop-of-the day is Donna Hull’s MyItchyTravelFeet.com, a great site about active travel (both at home and abroad) for baby boomers. Using her personal experiences gained from decades spent globetrotting, Donna advises boomers on where to go, what to do, where to stay, and how to prepare for an active trip.
Visit her site today and post a comment for a chance to win two great prizes: a $50 Barnes & Noble gift card, which may be redeemed at all Barnes & Noble stores and online at BarnesandNoble.com, and a “Library Edition” of the most
recent season of “Rudy Maxa’s World”, including six DVDs containing 13 shows on destinations in India, Turkey, Japan, Thailand, St. Petersburg, Estonia, and Argentina ($112 value).
The Dublin Writers Museum is a favorite literary landmark of Ellen Barone, host of today’s Travel Bloggers’ Caravan site-of-the-day, EllenBarone.com, a site that keeps globetrotters up to date on the latest travel news.
“Housed in the former Jameson Whiskey family home, an elegantly restored eighteenth century Georgian mansion, the museum is a convenient five minutes walk from the City Centre and Temple Bar,” says Ellen. “Great for a rainy day, bookworms can spend an absorbing afternoon browsing exhibits featuring the books, letters, portraits and personal items of Swift, Shaw, Wilde, Yeats, Joyce, Beckett, and more.”
Don’t miss the unique opportunity to listen to one of only two recordings ever made of James Joyce’s voice, which features him reading from Finnegan’s Wake. After leaving the Dublin Writers Museum, stop by the James Joyce Centre, about two blocks away.
Visit EllenBarone.com and post a comment on Ellen’s blog today for a chance to win a day pack from First Ascent, a new extreme adventure line of gear and clothing by Eddie Bauer and partners ($79 value). In addition, ExOfficio will be providing the ultimate travel ensemble! You could be trekking the globe in the latest ExOfficio outfit including; 1 Shirt, 1 Pair of Pants and 1 Pair of ExOfficio Underwear (approximately $200 value).
Linda Coffman, author of Fodor’s The Complete Guide to Caribbean Cruises and host of CruiseDiva.com, the Travel Bloggers’ Caravan site-of-the-day, tells us her favorite literary site is the Hemingway Home & Museum in Key West, Florida.
“It’s worth the wait, even if the line is long, to tour Ernest Hemingway’s home and the studio where he wrote some of his most famous works. Descendants of his polydactyl, or six-toed, cats still live on the grounds,” says Linda. (And incidentally, for the cat lovers on your Christmas list, the museum’s online gift shop has some great items, like cat-shaped hand-milled soap.)
To see more highlights of Key West, visit CruiseDiva.com and be sure to post a comment on Linda’s blog today for a chance to win a copy of her book, Fodor’s The Complete Guide to Caribbean Cruises, a World Grounding Set (courtesy of Magellan’s), and a Solio Hybrid Solar Charger designed to give you power whenever or wherever you need it by using solar energy or a computer USB to charge your mobile devices.
Today’s Travel Bloggers’ Caravan stop-of-the day is JtheTravelAuthority.com, where Jeanine Barone blogs about her off-the-beaten path discoveries in food, wine, design & architecture in locations around the globe. Most recently, Jeanine has been traveling in Macua, Portugal, and Turkey. Read about her latest adventures and post a comment for a chance to win a Mountainsmith Tour FX Camera Bag ($99 value).
Whether you’re setting out for some literary adventure or any other travels, Jeanine has excellent advice for staying healthy on the road and secret packing tips.
Nancy D. Brown, columnist, editor and host of the “What a Trip” blog, the Travel Bloggers’ Caravan site-of-the-day, tells us her favorite literary landmark is Cafe Iruna, a bar in Pamplona, Spain, that counted Ernest Hemingway among its clientele. “I’d just finished reading The Sun Also Rises and also visited the bull fighting ring where Hemingway hung out,” recalls Nancy of her visit to Papa’s former stomping grounds. ”While I’m an avid equestrian and not a proponent of bull fighting, I set aside my prejudices and was open to experiencing all things Hemingway. From Pamplona, I moved on to San Sebastian, Spain, another Hemingway haunt. The guy got around!”
Hemingway attended his first bullfight during Pamplona’s legendary running of the bulls in July 1923, and he found the death-defying spectacle so enthralling that he returned nearly every year for the rest of the decade. He went on to immortalize his passion in The Sun Also Rises (which follows a dissolute band of expats who spend their days drinking brandy and abinsthe at Cafe Iruna) and a non-fiction work, Death in the Afternoon.
The Travel Bloggers’ Caravan site-of-the-day is Nancy D. Brown’s What a Trip blog. Post a comment on her blog today for a chance to win two Otterbox cell phone cases ($50 value each) and a Baseline 20” Carry-On Expandable Wide-Body Upright ($369 value).
