An English Honeymoon: Day VI

Our sixth day in England was a day we had planned the night before. This day was grayer, subdued, a bit colder, but still without rain. The first thing on our agenda was to visit the famous Beatles crossing at Abbey Road, something Dan, being a fan, was very excited about (he's just excited about music in general). We took a taxi there, it was a little far from Kensington, and the cab driver took us right to the spot. It was really cool (although for me, just a little anti-climactic, as if I expected the Beatles to materialize in front of me) to see it in real life. There were already small groups of people standing on each side of the road (indeed, Abbey Road) waiting for the traffic to pass (they made no accommodations for car traffic in exchange for the people traffic, and I hope they never do) and Dan and I waited our turn to cross. We had to get photos. We did. 

We both got a kick out of it, actually. We were able to glimpse the front door of where many of our favorite musicians recorded their albums. Pink Floyd was/is a favorite of mine so it felt kinda cool to be there, close the space where they produced that sounds that filled my ears and steered my mind during high school, that feeling like long ago, and imagining how much older those recordings actually are.

Along the sidewalk fans had signed and written their signatures and notes. We both signed our simple signatures. Just names. I really liked this stamped dedication to LUCY. I can only believe that was for Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds. 

So it was my turn next... meaning Dan chose where he wanted to go in the morning... and I got the next choice for where to go in the afternoon (which is completely unfair and ridiculous because I basically chose everywhere up to this point during our stay. Yes... I'm a bit spoiled by him). It took a while to get there... we passed by the Royal Albert Hall and all these other places. Dan swears he saw Eric Clapton? All I saw was a man with glasses and a hat but Dan is sure it was Eric Clapton. We started to lose track of time and we were having a grand time exploring... I don't really remember what we did or what we saw... I just remember it was fun... and then we reached our destination! THE BRITISH LIBRARY. 

The architecture was gorgeous. And they had a café and bar outside. Inside was a large, echoey lobby with lots of free (meaning without a library card) art and art exhibits. 

In their special collections, which was open to ALL the public too (many of the books were not - those rooms required a library card) we were able to see original writing on the original parchment of the greatest people in the history of the world... like Charlotte Bronte, Lewis Carroll... THE MAGNA CARTA... original scores written by Chopin, Beethoven... so much more... it took my breath away. We spent a lot of time in the darkened room, looking at things separately, eyes wide with wonder, eavesdropping on the classes moving about, their teacher's instructions, coming together again to drag one another to see what we had seen. 

After exploring a little more and checking out the Imaginary Cities exhibit, we went outside to have a drink and a snack. I took one last long glance at the building and walked outside. 

It was Dan's turn again... I almost think it was an accident. Don't remember. But we came across a Hard Rock Cafe that just happened to be the OG Hard Rock. Which is mostly a big deal for Dan, not so much for me. I grumbled about having dinner there for two minutes and soon quit... first, there was a fun gift shop and I got myself a really nice jacket. Plus, I was getting hungry. We sat down to eat and I think our server was high on cocaine. 

We ate surrounded by all these instruments, all this music, and tons of loud and obnoxious people. But we had a grand time anyway and after dinner we took a tour of the basement... which was super interesting to me because it truly looked like a high school kid's basement that was never renovated and crammed with memorabilia and that was what made it so awesome. I guess someone stole Jimmy Hendrix's drummer's drum sticks? Because all this stuff was just laying out, not locked up or behind glass (at least half it).

Dan was very much blown away by it all. Like he was able to see treasure. And it wasn't about owning it or possessing it, just being able to see it. He didn't even want to touch anything when he clearly had the opportunity to. I did and I think he was slightly perturbed that I would do such a thing! Haha. I love this picture of him I took as he exited that room... and I like that sign the Hard Rock people put above the door.

I was yawning at this point... a pleasant tiredness. We somehow found ourselves in the train station where they filmed Platform 9 1/2 for the Harry Potter movies. Eye roll. But still. I bought a bag with Dobby on it. Here's the swag I purchased that day (a small portion of it):

Then we went home to our small cozy room. I opened up Max Adams' In the Land of Giants before turning in... I guess this is what I was reading that night...

We went to bed smiling. We still had a week left in England!

- F

P.S. I apologize for my lack of interesting writing here. As the memories slowly fade as time passes, there are only certain things I remember. Which doesn't make the effect of remembering any less powerful. But I think, at least in terms of journal-like recording, my writing gets weaker if I go a while without writing about my immediate experience. I don't really care though. I'm glad I'm writing out the trip in this way. It's the only way I've been able to. But for those who are reading these entries, apologizes for a less than robust post. I hope you are enjoying the pictures, at least :)