More lovely sights and sounds of London beckoned this Sunday, with a guided coach tour of some of the familiar highlights of central London: St. Paul's Cathedral, the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, London Bridge, and even the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. It wasn't a very lengthy tour, but it was enough to prime us for the more in-depth visits to some of these sites later on.
So once again, we would have the entire afternoon to ourselves, at which time I made the decision to strike out on my own and find Abbey Road. Admittedly, after the excitement of visiting Number 3 Savile Row, I honestly couldn't have waited until Tuesday, when the entire class is scheduled to visit. Plus, with my comfort level of navigating the city increasing every day and the great weather, it was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
After a long, brisk walk to St. John's Wood, covering a little over 3 miles, I found Abbey Road Studios, nestled in a quiet, almost suburban-like setting. Besides immediately zeroing in on the famous zebra crossing, I also saw small groups of visitors on either side of the street taking turns crossing and attempting to recreate their own version of the Beatles' album cover with varying degrees of success (much to the ire of some of the local drivers). Not surprisingly, the walls around the studio itself were covered extensively with written messages from fans from all over the world.
Once the crowds and the traffic settled down a bit, I asked some other Americans visitors present to take my photo walking across the street, and they kindly obliged. I may attempt another photo when the class returns on Tuesday, but I at least I was able to officially complete my Beatles "pilgrimage", something I wasn't able to do when I was last in London six years ago!
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