Museums – Yoojin Cho

Welcome to 221b Baker Street

Does this address sound familiar to you? “221b Baker Street”

How about this name? “Dr. Watson”

No? Then… “SHERLOCK HOLMES”

Yes! We all know the famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, and the fabulous tales of solving crimes and kicking criminals’ a**. We have seen the movie with Robert Downey, Jr., and we know the books written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Subsequently, we now make the connection, Sherlock Holmes lived in London. On Baker Street. Right by the Baker Street tube. Indeed, extremely close to Madame Tussaud’s wax museum.

Oh. There he is! Obviously, I HAD to visit this museum. To me, it was already pretty awesome walking around Central London pointing out all the places I remember from the movie. I thereby wanted to see the actual house where Holmes lived.

221b Baker Street, a surprisingly small, narrow building, stands next to a Beatles store and Subway (…Eat Fresh!)

When Jack and I arrived at the museum, many people were already lined up to go inside. Because of its size, they only let about 10 people in at a time. Kind of annoying, but preserving the building and NOT letting it collapse may have been a good priority.

And voila! We finally entered the building. A bit amusing, but none other than Dr. Watson himself greeted us.

“Welcome! Welcome to the modest little place that I share with Sherlock!”

How cute is he?

After a little chat and a little photo sesh with Dr. Watson, we made our way through the tiny apartment. The study room… Sherlock’s room with all his handy dandy detective gear…

A letter Sherlock wrote to Watson also on display…

Then upstairs, suddenly the exhibit turned into a wax museum. They had recreated scenes from each Sherlock Holmes book.

Engaged in a serious staring contest… But those wax figures did look extremely real. When I first walked in and saw the “people” hanging from the roof, I almost let out a small scream.

Though 6 pounds for entry, I thought this visit to the museum was definitely worthwhile. Though not a place I would see multiple times, I had a great time walking up and down the narrow stairs and looking at all the furniture, artifacts and memorabilia dedicated to this “fictional” character.

http://www.sherlock-holmes.co.uk/

Frohe Ostern von Berlin!

How did I let this happen? Seriously? HOW COME I STILL HAVEN’T WRITTEN ABOUT MY FAVORITE WEEKEND TRIP? I blame it on the madness that was April – moving out, packing for Italy and studying for final exams – and May – pigging out on home-cooked meals, shopping with mom and enjoying the Texas sun.

Well, anywho… I did go to Berlin, Deutschland for the long weekend in April, the Easter weekend, and to this day, I love love love telling the story of how we almost ended up in Dresden, instead. Lesson learned: Always double check train’s destination before you hop on it, especially in a foreign country after you’ve been up since 2 a.m. to catch the 6 a.m. flight.

Leaving whatever happened at the Berlin Shoenefield Airport train station behind, Jack and I eventually made it to our hostel, located right next to Berlin Haupbahnhof station. Meininger was the biggest and the most modern hostel we stayed at the entire semester. While small hostels, such as the ones we found in Dublin and Sicily, have their own perks of cozyness, comfort and personal attention, big hostels are well-maintained and offer more big-group activities.

After we dropped off our backpacks, we began our German adventures with…THE FREE TOUR! The same deal as the ones in Dublin and Paris. I quickly found Berlin was full of interesting ironies. Brandenburg Gate, at least 300-year-old historic monument, stood right next to the all-glass, extremely modern Parliament building. The Holocaust Memorial, with no clear sign of what it’s supposed to represent, simply sat in the middle of the city. All in all, we saw numerous historic sights, ate almost too many sausages and fell in love with the German culture.

(Brandenburg Gate)

(Holocaust Memorial)

Since close to two months have already flown by since my trip to Berlin, I will actually make categories and lists of places I visited, food I ate, things I loved, etc. – with lots of pictures, of course!

First things first, FOOD & DRINKS. (I mean, are you surprised?)

1. Bratwurst: Yes, sausages. Why else would you ever visit Germany? Grilled perfectly – burnt a little outside but still tender and juicy inside. Moreover, I discovered something absolutely amazing called CURRYWURST. Jack was daring enough to try it first, but basically, it is perfectly grilled bratwurst cut into small pieces with curry sauce and curry powder on top. I know, sounds a bit weird. The taste, however, is superb. By far my favorite food discovery in Europe.

2. Berliner Pilsner: Great German beer. Regardless of what size beer you ask for, you will most likely end up with a huge stein.

3. Cheap Thai/Vietnamese Food: For only 3 euro, I had a big bowls of Vietnamese noodle for lunch. Then for only about 10 euro, I had a huge plate of Thai noodle for dinner. Yum!

(Sightseeing) ACTIVITIES:

1. Climbing to the top of the Parliament building for a gorgeous city view: One downside is you have to start lining up at around 7:45 a.m. for its 8 a.m. opening time. Multiple upside factors are amazing view and no need to pay to enjoy the view.

2. Pub Crawls: Truth – Berlin S-Bahn and U-Bahn operate 24 hours a day on weekends. Need I say more? Great night life – we went to all sorts of pubs/bars during our pub crawl. We started off at Zapata, an outdoor hangout place, went to Die Fisch (Yes, The Fish!), a hip dance-y bar, then moved on to a bro-ish club and finally, sorta Euro-trash club. So. Much. Fun. We also made friends from NY and Norway. Sweet deal.

3. Picnic at Museuminsel: By Museuminsel, I mean The Museum Island where all the major museums in Berlin surround a gorgeous green. By picnic, I actually mean Currywursts. On a warm afternoon, just try it. Couple of Currywursts and a couple cans of Berliner Pilsner!

[Sidenote: At the Museum Island, you can also visit Pergammon Museum, which houses ancient Greek statues and Babylonian architecture. You can also get student discounts!]

4. Oranianburg Daytrip: About an hour away on the U-Bahn, this site of former concentration camp is definitely worth a visit. We ended up spending an entire afternoon there. Not sure how to describe it in words, but you just learn so much and realize how wonderful it is to have your freedom, happiness and simply, joyful life.

Oh Berlin! What a fun city! Throughout the weekend, I also noticed Berlin was full of tourists – almost more than London! I was a bit thrown off by how many people spoke French and complicated Eastern European languages around me, but nevertheless, blended in just fine and had a great time.

If I ever get a chance, I definitely want to visit Frankfurt, Dresden (not accidentally this time) and Hamburg. And also, practice my German skills!

A Picture Diary? Only Because I Can't Spell ANY of the Spanish Names…

Madrid, Spain: Mid-Semester Break! What a great vacation. Jack and I left at the crack of dawn to catch a bus to Liverpool St. station, then to get on the Stansted Express, and finally to hop on a plane to Madrid, Spain. But the whole week was absolutely worth all that trouble.

I have to say, I definitely enjoyed fratting out with my favorite bro/friend, Alex, and not having to worry about waking up early. In fact, almost every day, we slept in till 2 p.m. – and no one frowned at us, enjoyed lunch till about 4 p.m., took a nap at 8 p.m., and woke up at 10 p.m. for dinner, annnnnnd the nightlife began at around midnight. FANTASTIC!!!

Despite not being able to communicate at all, thanks to Jack, we got around just fine. It did make me a bit sad to find that though I speak English & Korean fluently and can hold basic conversations in German, it was as if I was a total alien. Does that mean now I need to go learn some Spanish? Anyways…

Here is my 5 days in Madrid picture diary:

Day 1

– Here we are… Madrid!

– Velazquez @ Prado Museum

– Look what I found at Plaza de Mayor!

– Paella and Mussels at an AWESOME restaurant whose name ended in …Volcano. 6 euro Paella, can’t beat it

– Hard to explain… Went to this cave bar and they had some sort of a milk-type drink from its ceiling. Didn’t have the guts to try it though.

Day 2

– Visited the Royal Palace of Madrid and Cathedral

– Unfortunately, no photographs allowed inside the Palace. Also, the royal family does not live there anymore. Nevertheless, very pretty!

– Possibly one of the best finds in this city. The biggest pick & mix store I have ever encountered.

– A big blurry, but Plaza de Espana.

– At Kapital. A club with seven floors (with the top flooring being this wonderful lounge). You can find anything from a crazy dance to karaoke. Of course we dominated by singing Bohemian Rhapsody. Win.

– Just to give you an idea of what the dance floor was like… Yeah?

Day 3

– A GORGEOUS day out by the park by Arguelles metro stop

– Look what we found on our way to Reina Sofia! Obviously I HAD to get an iced coffee… Yum!

– One example of some interesting, rather weird, modern art at Sofia.

Day 4

– A day trip to TOLEDO! A quaint Spanish town with great food, plenty of sunshine and wonderful sangria.

– A 2-hour long lunch with sangria. Do not regret it.

– Could spend hours and hours wandering around these narrow streets.

Day 5

– Last day in Madrid… Managed to get by with 20 euro left between Jack and me, all thanks to this wonderful place with 60 cent sandwiches!

– And let’s not forget, 50 cent wine boxes. They also come in forms of small juice boxes! Great portability!

– Of course, ended the trip with a bag of Haribo candies and headed to the airport at 3 a.m.

Overall, I loved spending time in Madrid. I have to say, though, staying there for a long period of time might not be too suitable for me. It was fantastic for a week when I definitely needed some break from London and classes. Now, I am so happy to be back in London. 🙂

Next up, my stories from Notting Hill Arts Club.

-Yoojin