Here Comes The Sun

"Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it's all right"

-Beatles, "Here Comes the Sun," Abbey Road

It definitely has been the longest, coldest, and loneliest winter I have ever experienced in my lifetime this past year living in the UK and having Josh in medical school.  But on Monday, March 21, 2011, the sun was shining brightly on the Fairman sibs in London.  And as my Mom tells me I used to say when I was 2 years old, "It was a boootiful day," and everything was even better than alright.

After seeing both the Tower Bridge and the London Bridge, we decided to make our way to one of the less visited but equally as well known tourist spots.  Abbey Road.  We took the metro to St. John's Wood which is just a little outside of the major part of the city.  From there, we walked down the street to Abbey Road and the famous crosswalk.  Suprisingly, there were only a handful of people at the same spot.  For as many tourists as there are in London on any given day, I expected there to be more people there.  I mean gosh, I know there are about a bazillion Beatles fans out there. 

We got a few pictures of the street sign.  As well as the crosswalk by itself.  Actually, in the UK a crosswalk is called a "Zebra Crossing" because of the alternating white and black lines.  I quite like that name.  So yes, we were at the Beatles Abbey Road Zebra Crossing. 

The street sign.

The Abbey Road zebra crossing.

 Of course, we had to try and recreate the Beatles Abbey Road picture from their album cover.  Here is what it originally looked like.

Abbey Road Album Cover

Can I just say that recreating this picture is NOT as easy as it looks.  First of all, there is LOTS of traffic at this little intersection.  And in the UK, there really is no rule that says pedestrians have the right of way.  If you are caught in the street while a car is coming, you are really risking your life.  Cause chances are, they don't plan on stopping.  On top of that, the random person we asked to photograph us while walking across was not brave enough to step out onto the street with us, so the angle at which it is taken at is a bit off of the picture.  After a couple of tries, this is the best we could come up with.

George, Paul, Ringo, John

We actually had a really fun time at Abbey Road and even though it was just a short time that we were actually there, it was extremely memorable.  There is even a Beatles Coffee Shop right outside of the tube station where we stocked up on Beatles memorabilia.

 After getting our Beatles fix, we headed to Picadilly Circus and Oxford Circus for some shopping!  Bert's favorite. :)  He was actually a really good sport through it all.  Picadilly Square reminds me a lot of Times Square, not that I've actually been there, but from the pictures they seem similar.  We walked along Regent Street going in and out of the shops.  We made a few purchases here and there, nothing to extravagant.  If I had unlimited funds, I could have spent a lot of time in this area.  They had just about every shopping store you can imagine.



Anna, Rachel, & Bert at Picadilly Circus.

 Our last stop in London was Hyde Park, which honestly, I think is a little overrated.  Maybe it's because we had been walking all day long and my feet were tired. Maybe it's because I woke up and tweaked my back and it was having spasms off and on all day.  Maybe it's because the park is massive and we walked across the entire thing lengthwise, which took an hour, to get to the "Princess Diana Memorial" only to find out that it was a children's playground dedicated to her...and it was closed.  Whatever the reason, I thought that St. James Park was MUCH nicer and could have done without Hyde Park...no matter how famous it is.  I didn't even take any pictures of it because I was disliking it so much at the time.

We ended our stay in London with dinner at The Shakespeare Pub.  The food was just okay, but the company was great.  Bert, Rachel, Anna, and I had such a fun time there and I can't wait to go back with my husband. Hint Hint.  (Have you noticed a trend here?) I really want to go back.  :)