Those of you who know me well (or many even those of you who don’t), know I’m a big ole’ nerd.

If you read about my trip to the Harry Potter Studio Tour near London, you figured it out real quick like.

Needless to say, that’s surely not the only nerdy thing I did when I was touring around the UK this spring. Because not only is it home to Harry Potter and friends, it also boasts as the home of the television shows Doctor Who (longest running Sci-Fi show on television but for the love of God don’t ask me to explain what it’s about) and Sherlock. That means there is no shortage of locations to visit and fun experiences to be had.

CARDIFF, WALES AND ‘THE DOCTOR WHO EXPERIENCE’

While a good part of the Doctor Who television show is filmed in Cardiff, it is also home to ‘The Doctor Who Experience’, a magical place where they have lots of sets, props, and goodies from the many, many years the show has been on.

It was a pretty easy walk from my hostel to the ‘Experience’ which sits on the seaport. I’m glad I walked, since I ended up finding myself at the entrance to Torchwood (Torchwood was a spinoff series from Doctor Who - if you actually rearrange ‘Doctor Who’ you end up with ‘Torchwood’).

Then you continue on through Roald Dahl Plass, which has been featured in many episodes of both shows, including Doctor Who’s 50th Anniversary Special.

Take a left through Roald Dahl Plass and you’ll find yourself at ‘The Doctor Who Experience’. I had bought my tickets online the day before, so all I had to do was walk in and pick up the tickets for my time slot.

The lobby is littered with artifacts and props from the show, and it really gets you excited for the adventures ahead. Unfortunately, in ‘The Experience’ itself, you can’t take pictures, but for about 20 minutes you have a staff member taking you on an adventure with The Doctor, into the TARDIS, through the graveyard with Weeping Angels, and into a lair of Daleks.

Now I know at this point I’ve lost some of you…Weeping Angels? Daleks? A TARDIS? Like I said, don’t ask me to explain…it’ll sound crazy. So go on and watch for yourself! But for starters, Weeping Angels are the reason I can’t look at a stone statue of pretty much anything without maintaining constant eye contact and backing away slowly. They. Are. Terrifying.

Especially the baby ones. Just no. I don’t deal well with creepy human children giggling in the dark, let alone creepy baby stone angels.

So after you exit ‘The Experience’, you’re dropped off in the original set of the very first TARDIS (for you non Doctor Who’ers, it stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space, and it’s basically a blue police box that’s The Doctor’s spaceship. See? I told you not to make me explain!). From there you make your way through other Doctor’s TARDIS and sets, more props, original scripts, and so much more.

I had a lot of fun exploring the set pieces, taking pictures of character’s costumes, and taking selfies with the bad guys.

Then of course, one MUST take a picture with the actual TARDIS they’re currently using for filming! Thanks to the awesome staff members who took my picture. They were so much fun to talk to and had some great stories to share.

LONDON AND THE VERY FIRST ‘SHERLOCK CONVENTION’

Even before I left for Europe, way back in February, I found out that a convention dedicated to the BBC show Sherlock was going to be happening at the end of April, right when I was planning on being back in the city anyway. I texted my sister about it, and she said to me, “Hey, that seems like a great time for me to take a vacation. Buy me a ticket I’m coming too.” Of course we also spent a week touring around Iceland together, but first we explored London a bit together, and then got our nerd on at the ExCel Centre for ‘Sherlocked‘.

Conventions are always a lot of fun…especially for people watching. Having lived in San Diego my favorite thing to do around Comic Con time was to go downtown and just watch everyone go by.

This was obviously much much smaller, but fun nonetheless.

We mostly went to a few panels with some of the actors/creators from the show (I somehow caught most of them with some seriously funny looks on their faces…I wish I could remember what the audience questions were that created those faces)

Walked around the exhibition hall

Saw some props and costumes (ok the face mask from the premiere of Series 3 was seriously creepy in person)

And learned about special effects (that was a seriously cool panel presentation as well).

The convention went on for the whole weekend, but my sister and I also wanted to take some time to explore the city a bit. We ended up being in London on the day of the London Marathon! It went right by our Airbnb apartment which was cool, and then we unknowingly ended up at the finish line, aka Buckingham Palace.

Let me tell you though, trying to take the tube and get around central London when there’s a huge event like the marathon going on is insane! I mean, just look at all these people!

And, of course, no weekend that is spent around Sherlock would be complete without a visit to the filming location of 221B Baker St and lunch at the Speedy’s Cafe next door. I have to say though, while the cafe has become very well known thanks to the television show, the very small shop has some seriously delicious sandwiches. I recommend the Sherlock Wrap…I still dream about that sandwich.

I had a lot of fun nerding out in the UK, and look forward to more adventures through time, space, 221B Baker St, and the wizarding world.

Be right back…on my way to Hogwarts.

Have you ever gotten your nerd on while traveling? Visit a set location, an ‘experience’ or convention? Tell me all about it (mostly so I can visit too!)

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