(Admission: Adult £10,
Children under 16 £8)
Hours of Operation:
9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Open all days of the year,
except Christmas Day.
History:
According to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, writer of the Sherlock Holmes series, Sherlock Holmes and Doctor John H. Watson lived at 221b Baker Street in London between 1881 and 1904. This museum/house is located in the same physical address and is protected by the UK's government due to its "special architectural and historical interest." The house was built in 1815 and is open as a museum dedicated to the life and times of Sherlock Holmes. The interior has been faithfully maintained for posterity, exactly as described within the published stories.
For more information, contact:
Andrea von Ehrenstein - The Curator
curator@sherlock-holmes.co.uk
The Sherlock Holmes Museum
221b Baker Street London NW1 6XE
01+44+207 224 3688
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
London, England: Big Ben
Big Ben consists of:
The Elizabeth Tower
It consists of 850 cubic meters of stone and 2600 cubic meters of bricks. There are 11 floors and the dimensions of the tower itself are over 96 square meters and 12 square meters. Construction of the Clock Tower began in 1843, but it was not completed until 1859.
The Great Clock
There are four clock dials at 7 meters each. The clock's dial frames are made of cast-iron and there are 312 pieces of pot opal glass in each clock dial. It takes 28 energy efficient bulbs at 85watt each to illuminate each dial and each bulb lasts about 60, 000 hours.The minute hands are made out of copper sheet, weigh about 100 kilograms (including counterweights), have the length of 4.2 meters and travels an equivalence of 190 kilometers per year. The hour hands are made out of gun metal, weigh 300 kilograms (including counterweights) and has the length of 2.7 meters. The hour figure of 4 o'clock is shown by the Roman numeral IV, rather than he usual IIII on other clocks. Under each clock dial there is a Latin inscription carved in stone: "Domine Salvam fac Reginam nostrum Victoriam primam" which means "O Lord, save our Queen Victoria the First." The clock was finished being constructed in 1854, but it had to wait to be installed until the Elizabeth Tower was completed in 1859.
The Great Bell
There are two theories for the origin of Big Ben's name. The first is that it was named afar Sir Benjamin Hall who was the first commissioner for Works 1855-1858. The second is that it was named after Ben Caunt who was a champion heavyweight boxer of the 1850s. The first theory is though to be most likely.
The total cost of making the clock and bells and installing them in the Elizabeth Tower reached £22, 000.
Unfortunately, the tour is only available to UK residents and is unavailable to overseas visitors due to reoccurring security problems, especially since the historic clock tower is attached to UK Parliament. The clearance checks that were required for foreigners to ensure terrorists could not target this famous landmark became too complex and costly and so a ban was enforced in late 2010 against all foreigners visiting the premises. British citizens are still allowed to visit Big Ben, but they have to apply first 3-6 months in advance by writing to their Members of Parliament (MP).
Thursday, February 19, 2015
London, England: The Tower of London
The Tower of London:
(Admission: Adult £22, Children ages 5-15 £11, Children under 5 are free, Family Pass £59 includes up to 2 adults and 3 children, or Concession £18.70 for full-time students 16 and over disabled visitors and over 60 with ID. There is also an Annual Membership £46 which includes unlimited entry to five palaces. All of these prices include a voluntary donation. Online rates are less expensive by a little over a pound.)
Tickets
Each ticket includes access to the Tower and the Crown Jewels display, exhibitions including Coins and Kings and Line of Kings, plus the Yeoman Warder guided tour, live historical re-enactments, White Tower tour and children's activity trails.
Audio Guides
There are also audio guides available for an added price of £4 per adult, £3 per child under 16 and concessions, or £12 per family group of up to 2 adults and 3 children. The audio tour includes five different tour options, such as listening to stories about the Normans and before, and the Medieval Palace, finding out more about imprisonment and execution inside the Tower, being dazzled by the Crown Jewels or allowing Chief Yeoman Warder to tell you what it's really like to live inside a royal Fortress. The languages the audio tours come in are English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Dutch, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean and Chinese (Mandarin).
Hours of Operation
March 1 through October 31 (Summer)
Tuesday - Saturday
9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Sunday - Monday
10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
(last admission at 5 p.m.)
November 1 through February 28 (Winter)
Tuesday - Saturday
9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Sunday - Monday
10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
(last admission at 4 p.m.)
Top Attractions
The Crown Jewels
White Tower
Yeoman Warders
The Ravens
Tower Torture
Coins and Kings
Line of Kings
Royal Beasts
Fortress
The Fusilier Museum
Medieval Palace
Tower Green and Scaffold Site
Wall Walk
Tower of London Remembers
888, 246 ceramic poppies were added to this landmark in 2014, marking one hundred years since Britain's first full day of involvement in World War I. The exhibit was titled Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red and was created by artists Paul Cummins and Tom Piper. It took about 4 months to complete (started July 17 and ended November 11). Each poppy represented a British military fatality from WWI. All of the poppies from the exhibit were sold and the millions of pounds raised were shared equally between six service charities, Cobseo, Combat Stress, Coming Home, Help for Heroes, The Royal British Legion and SSAFA. The tour will hopefully last until 2018 before being permanently based at the Imperial War Museums in London and Manchester.
Tickets
Each ticket includes access to the Tower and the Crown Jewels display, exhibitions including Coins and Kings and Line of Kings, plus the Yeoman Warder guided tour, live historical re-enactments, White Tower tour and children's activity trails.
Audio Guides
There are also audio guides available for an added price of £4 per adult, £3 per child under 16 and concessions, or £12 per family group of up to 2 adults and 3 children. The audio tour includes five different tour options, such as listening to stories about the Normans and before, and the Medieval Palace, finding out more about imprisonment and execution inside the Tower, being dazzled by the Crown Jewels or allowing Chief Yeoman Warder to tell you what it's really like to live inside a royal Fortress. The languages the audio tours come in are English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Dutch, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean and Chinese (Mandarin).
Hours of Operation
March 1 through October 31 (Summer)
Tuesday - Saturday
9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Sunday - Monday
10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
(last admission at 5 p.m.)
November 1 through February 28 (Winter)
Tuesday - Saturday
9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Sunday - Monday
10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
(last admission at 4 p.m.)
Top Attractions
The Crown Jewels
White Tower
Yeoman Warders
The Ravens
Tower Torture
Coins and Kings
Line of Kings
Royal Beasts
Fortress
The Fusilier Museum
Medieval Palace
Tower Green and Scaffold Site
Wall Walk
Tower of London Remembers
888, 246 ceramic poppies were added to this landmark in 2014, marking one hundred years since Britain's first full day of involvement in World War I. The exhibit was titled Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red and was created by artists Paul Cummins and Tom Piper. It took about 4 months to complete (started July 17 and ended November 11). Each poppy represented a British military fatality from WWI. All of the poppies from the exhibit were sold and the millions of pounds raised were shared equally between six service charities, Cobseo, Combat Stress, Coming Home, Help for Heroes, The Royal British Legion and SSAFA. The tour will hopefully last until 2018 before being permanently based at the Imperial War Museums in London and Manchester.
Thursday, February 12, 2015
England
For this first week of posts I'm going to focus solely on England and its must-see attractions!
Let's get started!
Basic Knowledge over England:
Currency
1 Pound Sterling = 1.50 US Dollar
Official Language
English
Capital
London
Primary Religion
Christianity
The United Kingdom (UK) includes:
1. England
2. Scotland
3. Wales
4. Northern Ireland (The rest of Ireland is independent of the UK)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1xjeBvpLjICQXld-yq_BK_BLOdkKexw9bQ-Svj0phTZlwbPKHYfob2bgaQQ6WO0q-XNK__Qn42nHJelmxbC4ypqCXEVn4kR6uhHdMLJvfadDHzAp4rgTcff4XCC1394212qAlaRHhxcA/s1600/United+Kingdom.gif)
(Source: http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/britain/uk.htm)
Let's get started!
Basic Knowledge over England:
Currency
1 Pound Sterling = 1.50 US Dollar
Official Language
English
Capital
London
Primary Religion
Christianity
The United Kingdom (UK) includes:
1. England
2. Scotland
3. Wales
4. Northern Ireland (The rest of Ireland is independent of the UK)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1xjeBvpLjICQXld-yq_BK_BLOdkKexw9bQ-Svj0phTZlwbPKHYfob2bgaQQ6WO0q-XNK__Qn42nHJelmxbC4ypqCXEVn4kR6uhHdMLJvfadDHzAp4rgTcff4XCC1394212qAlaRHhxcA/s1600/United+Kingdom.gif)
(Source: http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/britain/uk.htm)
"If you're not passionate about your message, don't start a blog"
I was shown this article today and I thought it got right to the point:
http://bloggingyourpassion.com/if-youre-not-passionate-about-your-message-dont-start-a-blog/
It basically says to not write about things in your blog that you don't have any interest in. Traveling is very important to me and I hope to do a lot of it in my lifetime, so the subject of this blog is perfect for me. If I wasn't passionate about traveling, I would find the research needed to write this blog way too extensive. Like the article says, "If you're not passionate about your message, your quality will always suffer." Luckily, I'm driven to learning more and more about the places I'm writing about. Keep reading my posts to see what I mean!
http://bloggingyourpassion.com/if-youre-not-passionate-about-your-message-dont-start-a-blog/
It basically says to not write about things in your blog that you don't have any interest in. Traveling is very important to me and I hope to do a lot of it in my lifetime, so the subject of this blog is perfect for me. If I wasn't passionate about traveling, I would find the research needed to write this blog way too extensive. Like the article says, "If you're not passionate about your message, your quality will always suffer." Luckily, I'm driven to learning more and more about the places I'm writing about. Keep reading my posts to see what I mean!
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
This blog and its framework
Subject Material
I plan to cover a wide variety of countries that most people plan on visiting at some point in their lives. I want to make sure that I have all the information needed in one place for my readers. In order to accomplish that goal, I have been doing extensive research over each subject I want to write about. I always find it extremely irritating to have to sort through pages and pages of articles to find out everything I want and need to know about a place I want to visit. So, this is my way of helping anyone else with that same frustration!
Most subjects will be separated by bolded or underlined words or phrases. I want to make sure that readers understand the breakup of my subjects, so I'll go into a little more detail. Each blog post will be about a different country or region. It will show the must-know information for anyone going to each place, as well as things or activities you don't want to miss out on. I plan to post weekly, since the research needed to be able to post is extensive. I may come back to countries in order to add more information missed or just go into greater detail over a certain area. I just really want to make sure the information comes out clear, so leave comments if you need any clarifying.
Thanks for reading!
Thanks for reading!
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