This has become primarily a the beatles blog for now and I felt that it was only right to talk about my pilgrimage to Abbey Road. My friend and I like to go to London and sometimes we have to find things to fill the space before the things we've planned to go for. This is the first time I have managed to successfully convince her to come with me to see Abbey Road.
We found out the location and the tube station of course and hopped on the Jubilee Line and suddenly we were there and it's a very mind-blowing thing. I felt like I recognised the architecture because I am so familiar with abbey road and photos so it was a strange feeling. Everything felt so normal and it was incredibly amazing to see and witness how things just go on.
We didn't know exactly where to find it but we found the right way perfectly. I didn't expect for it to be so close to the St John's Wood Tube Station but there it was and seeing the opposite direction was very weird. There's a monument in the middle of the road for goodness sake which I went and stood in the centre of at first. Approaching it was really surreal and I had to kind of edge around it that way to see it at the angle most used to.
It was extremely mind-blowing to be there. As anticipated it was a little difficult to cross with time to walk that slow but it felt like it. Everything blanked out a little. There weren't that many people there which surprised me even more which went with the normalcy of everything which you don't often see when beatles fans are there but that's what it was like for me and perfect and special for it.
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It was a beautiful autumn day and these personal perspectives of the crossing are meaningful to me because It was my first cross over connected to the emotions I had. And I'm not very photogenic so I don't feel that I need a photo of me crossing by my friend although we tried my enthusiastic strides across.
Every reference to abbey anything I radiated towards and I settled with this as I couldn't spider climb onto the building opposite for a close shot of the real Abbey Road sign. I stood around for quite a long time. My friend Christen is a great sport because I stared at abbey road studios for a really long time. The walls took my breath away. You can feel the history and the feelings of everybody who has ever been able to visit and the messages scattered everywhere were the most beautiful disarray I have ever got up close with.
This sign is incredible. I want to marry it for the reference and the general embracing spirit it had for the tradition. There was even a marker there to use.
It's one of the most moving things in the world to have lyrics from people from all works of life to come and leave. I have a suspicion that they repaint every so often but underneath it goes back a long time and every message attaches to one another. Christen's message is very emotion-driven. :P
Now I can think of so many things that I could have written such as 'I've just seen a road I can't forget, the time or place that we just met.' I really want to be there but my mind fogged and I went with the typical 'All you need is love' because it encompasses everything I didn't know how to say.
One of my favourite doodles is the Walrus.
The John picture I love a lot more than words can describe.
I took in everything lots more and we crossed the crossing again, helped take a picture for somebody else and by then I had unsheathed my John Lennon cap and wore it on the way back across and we returned back from whence we came where school children were walking the pavements and everything was back to moving again.
After this we went back to the tube station where we found The Beatles Cafe and there was no question that I had to go inside it, mooch around at the endless souvenirs and cinnamon-y chai tea Christen introduced me to in the morning only fitting that I get my first from this cafe.
And that was what was on the cup. It was extremely funny to me and probably Paul, John, George and Ringo would probably have something to say about too.
As a last comment these are the things which I got from the beatles cafe. Two 'I crossed abbey road' postcards and no that isn't an album it's a card which I wanted to stick on my wall and an abbey road pen where the beatles when you move the pen walk across the crossing which I didn't discover until the train and is the marvel of a lifetime.
Have you ever been to Abbey Road, or plan to? When did you go and what was it like for you?
