Sadly, the tour did not check off the expectations this sort of billing might generate, but it was still pretty cool, and there were a number of really interesting bits that weren't expected that made up for it, so it's hard not to call it a success.
The vintage open-air double-decker bus was a nice touch.
Before starting the walking component of the tour, we rambled around Westminster and the City of London a bit, taking in sights with our guide giving things context and pointing out the bits ignorant tourists like us would likely miss on our own. Our guide, who would be with us the entire tour, had a great sense of humor and was fun to listen to.
A recurring event of the walking component of this tour was encountering other Ripper walking tours. We probably ran into a dozen or more (though if it came down to a turf war I think we would likely have won handily just on sheer numbers). Many were in other languages, had very different ideas of whodunit or what the cultural and historical significance of it was. It was a great illustration of just how (in)famous these murders were and how they've shaped the imagination of the whole world.
After running into these every few minutes for an hour or so, things seemed to thin out a bit and our tour was more or less on its own. This made it easier to focus on our guide and his explanations and theories. He was clearly keenly interested in his subject matter and had a great many of his own conjectures, which were fun to listen to.
Another important consideration was how much the city had changed and how little of the original crime scene areas were left to go over. The revelation of the site of one of the most infamous murders in history lost a bit of its gravitas when you're peeking into the window of a retail outlet instead of the yard of Harriet Hardiman's boardinghouse. On the other hand, it was an excellent reminder that, despite its innumerable historical buildings, London is still a living, breathing city and not an amusement park for tourists.
Besides, Whitechapel was still chock-full of narrow streets and alleys that restored a proper feeling of Victorian-era nighttime mood to our group.
Finally, the tour ended at the Sherlock Holmes pub on Northumberland Street, just opposite the Northumberland Hotel where Sir Henry Baskerville stayed in The Hound of the Baskervilles. Unfortunately, the tour was late so the restaraunt was closed. Having not eaten since lunchtime, we retreated back to the Portobello and its 24 hour room service for some delicious steak-and-ale pies. Holmes would have to wait til tomorrow.
