There Are Places I'll Remember...

Abbey Road Studios sign
Originally uploaded by awolice89

For a person who can't even function in life without a 24/7 soundtrack, and for someone who has officially been in London for over a month, I don't really know why exactly I hadn't ventured over to Abbey Road until this past Thursday..

Logistically speaking, there really isn't that much to see. In fact, dare I'd come to face the reality, the zebra crossing made infamous by the Fab 4 has actually been repainted and moved several feet from where it was in 1969. But, maybe I'm just a sucker for musicians who made an impact in the 60s and 70s (I swear if there's such a thing as past lives, I HAD to have lived in that era), or maybe there really is something magical still about going on a "pilgrimmage" to the site at which the Beates recorded the majority of their songs. I didn't elect to pay to go inside and tour the studios (from what I'm told, it literally just looks like a studio with maybe some plaques or something on the walls), but to actually go to Abbey Road, to actually see nearly 50 people at 1pm on a Thursday afternoon flock to a crosswalk simply because of an album cover made 40 years ago is something incredible.

Since the era of the British Invasion (which, I suppose they don't call it that here.. in Britain...), Abbey Road studios has welcomed recording artists like Pink Floyd, The Killers and Muse.. yet outside, the front wall serving as a fence in front of the building is covered daily in dedications written by devoted Beatles fans. It's absolutely amazing. Over 40 years later and several people, from the Beatles' generation, to my generation, to people younger than myself (can you imagine) were out there writing song lyrics and messages thanking the Beatles for all they've done for British pop culture and for everyone alive in the 60s and beyond. I know there is, unfortunately, a good handful of self-declared artists out there who I have little respect for because their music is just drab melody mixed with Hollywood controversy and words that sound as if their writer spent under an hour paging through a rhyming dictionary just to meet a deadline.. but going to Abbey Road reminds you of the impact music can really have on the world..

After leaving Abbey Road in a (failed) search for fish & chips, believe it or not I bumped into Kelly out of the blue (I've worked with Kelly for years in NJ and shes visiting from the US until tomorrow). It was absolutely hilarious, and 100 times funnier because I completely CALLED that I would bump into her. I swear I'm clairvoyant sometimes..

While I still can't express how much it meant to spend last weekend with Chris, and to see friends like Justin and Rachel.. It also felt really awesome to see a familiar face from home - not to mention I had a really great time during Kelly's visit!...

So that night, Kelly & her friends (who I LOVEEE) and I went to O'Neill's (because every first-timer to London really HAS to go there), and it was absolutely hilarious. I've never actually been there THAT late, and now I know not to be... Given that I'm obviously (very happily) accounted for, and given that most people at a bar 2am on a Thursday night are looking for something in particular, I more or less fled the dance floor at a certain point until everyone was ready to leave. Still feeling the effects of my choice beverages, I couldn't remember where my bus stop was, so I left with the girls and stayed at Regent's for the night (and God bless the girls for ordering such incredible food at 4am. OH MY GOODNESS. So delicious!)

Then, this afternoon we made our way to Camden. Gosh, every time I go there I want to cry over how many things I want to buy. I swear I'm not an overly materialistic person, but it's impossible not to be when you go to the London markets.

Unfortunately for myself (and my sanity) I still have this God-awful project due this week with NO IDEA how to tackle it.. that being said, I should probably get back to writing my homework rather than writing in my blog... UGGH.