atlinmerrick:Wandering Around Baker Street…So a few folks asked what sort of shops are near 221B Bak
atlinmerrick:Wandering Around Baker Street…So a few folks asked what sort of shops are near 221B Baker Street…where might John and Sherlock shop? Get laundry done? Have a pint?* The All Important Pub: The VolunteerWhen Sherlock’s consulting mess drives John round the giddy bend, or flames force them both to decamp to more alcoholic pastures, the nearest pub to 221B is The Volunteer. See those flower bedecked windows to the left of the pub? That’s 221B. To get a sense of The Volunteer’s take on Sherlock, have a look at the blackboard out front.* The Dry CleanersFor those purple shirts of sex and perhaps Sherlock’s fanciest lingerie, this dry cleaner would be the closest to their home as it’s just across the street and a bit to the right. I have decided that this dry cleaner has seen many, many interesting things in the windows of 221B because she’s up extra early to be available to the before-work crowd, while John and Sherlock are sometimes up extra late. Doing frisky things near the sitting room windows…* Baker Street Newsagent & Convenience StoreI have no idea if this place sells lube or jam or sex aids, so if I don’t know and I took the photo then probably very few of your readers will know. So have the boys pick up any old thing you want from this newsagent and convenience store! Maybe the shopkeeper is sweet on John, maybe she stocks obscure medical periodicals for him. Sherlock is so not jealous because no, he never asked her to order Cadavers Monthly and no he was not flatly rejected. All three times.* Pret, the nearest chain cafePrets are everywhere in London. No seriously, they are all over the place everywhere and so often within sight of one another you will stand on a corner and gape. In Trafalgar Square you can stand in a certain spot and see three of them. This one is about 30 seconds from 221B, on west side of Baker Street, like their flat. Like all Prets it serves hot soups, coffees of every kinds, great sandwiches, various hot wraps, and croissants. Also, like all Prets, their staff are always happy. I don’t know if someone put something in the drinks or the corporation has superb management (I’m going with this latter guess), but the staff are invariably kind and sometimes they give you a free latte or cappuccino or tea because you made them smile.* Tesco, the nearest supermarketInstead of going to that Pret, turn right and about 40 seconds from the flat is the Tesco on Melcombe Street. This is the boys’ closest chain supermarket. Tesco is the cheapest chain in central London, with pretty much the lowest-end foods, but for your basics, this is where you’d go. Want something nicer? Read on.* Baker Street tube station &* Boots PharmacyBaker Street tube station has what seems like eleventy billion entrances (probably there’s just the three) but this tube entrance is the one that is closest to the boys and is actually on Baker Street. The other two of which I’m aware are around the corner on Marylebone Road. Actually this is a two-for-one photo as the Boots Pharmacy beside the station is also their closest big pharmacy. That is probably where they buy the lube. Also I’m sure I went to a Boots that stocked vibrators. And not the kind that soothes sore muscles.* Lloyds BankThis bank is at the corner of Baker Street and Marylebone Road and about a 60 second walk from 221B. If you’re lookin’ for the closest bank to the boys, this is it, and it’s on their side of the road as well. Right across from it is HSBC but since I don’t much care for HSBC I didn’t to photograph it. Besides, it’s on the other side of Baker Street from their flat. Sherlock does not cross the street unnecessarily.* Marks & Spencer (M&S) Mini MarketIf Sherlock did cross Baker Street then turned left, he’d be on Marylebone Road. On Marylebone you’ll find not only another tube entrance for Baker Street, you’ll find a Marks & Spencer mini supermarket. This isn’t one of their proper supermarkets, it’s too dinky for that. This is more where John and Sherlock would grab high-end pre-made meals because they’ve just got back from a case that had them walking hip deep through the Thames, down into the sewers, then along Regent’s canal and damn it they are exhausted. Marks & Spencer’s food is well-made and nice. Their sandwiches are nice. Everything they sell is nice. Pricier than Tesco by about 30%, but very nice.* The Pie Club Fuck it. John does not want a ‘nice’ sandwich. He does not want pretty greens with sliced beetroot and English cucumbers and soy-seared salmon god damn it. He wants a fucking savory pie because he has walked half a mile in the Thames and his best shoes have been in a sewer and Regent’s canal is a whole lot fucking deeper than it has any right to be, so for dinner they are going to this savory pie shop and they are having piping hot, calorie-dense, wonderful English pies and if anyone has anything to say about it they can stuff it, all right? Good. Fine.(Um, right. Well. Let’s just let John calm down and I’ll tell you that this shop is a tiny bit further along Marylebone than the M&S. Call it a two minute walk from 221B at the most. Possibly a lot less if you’re fueled by rage and there is sewage in your favourite brogues.)* Westminster Magistrates CourtI was going to put Westminster Magistrates Court in here because I was sure I must have looked this up so I felt sanguine in telling you that an ex-army doctor and a consulting detective could get married to one another at the Westminster Magistrates Court, which is about a half mile along Marylebone Road from 221B…but then I couldn’t find anything about that on their website. Not that the boys would marry suddenly or secretly anyway because Mrs. Hudson would chop them up, then murder them, then sell their parts to The Pie Club.Ahem.So. This completes our brief tour of the shops near Baker Street. Please feel free to use any of these images or anything I’ve said here in your own stories. And I’m happy to take requests for where to follow our boys next in London. -- source link
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