ABBEY ROAD

    During July of 2001, I traveled to France and England with my French class.  I campaigned for visiting Abbey Road during our short London excursion, and our tour guide finally relented - two fellow Beatlemaniacs accompanied me on the pilgrimage.

    Typical of my luck, particular sections of the London Underground were shut down due to some sort of a "technical difficulty" (apparently someone didn't "mind the gap"...eek...).  Since the cheapest route to Abbey Road was out of commission, we decided to shell out a few pounds to travel via taxi.

    Here's where I have to insert my plug for English taxi drivers: they're the best!  Our taxi driver even tuned in to a Beatles radio station so we could feel the Beatle-y vibes.  

    We were dropped off just outside of Abbey Road Studios.  All of us made the necessary "first crossing" of the famous crosswalk (I fully intended to go barefoot in honor of Paul, but the condition of the pavement made me reconsider my intentions).  I felt totally invigorated by just being present at the crosswalk - the music of the Beatles means so much to me, and visiting one of their landmarks was rather overwhelming.

    Our entourage walked ceremoniously up the studio steps (which were once touched by Beatle boots!) for some Kodak moments and then read the comments written on the cement fence surrounding Abbey Road Studios (the fence serves as a guestbook of sorts).  Being overly giddy during our preparation for the pilgrimage, we had forgotten to bring markers and were unable to sign the wall - I will never live that down.  If you ever go to Abbey Road, bring a marker, or you will sincerely regret it.

    For the rest of our visit, we just wallowed in the sheer joy of being at Abbey Road (many other people - from all over the world - were also doing just that).

    As the sun began to set, we finally had to hail a taxi to go back to our hotel.  Abbey Road was a truly uplifting experience - I don't know how else to describe it.