So no real suprise here, it's Abbey Road by a landslide. For anyone who knows me, I am a Beatles fanatic (hello title of my blog), and have been since I was around eight years old. I look at the Beatles as the soundtrack to my childhood - while everyone else was listening to old school rap or Pearl Jam, I was humming along to "She Loves You" or "Drive my Car." This of course made me a bit different from my classmates who never understood why I didn't know all the words to the latest pop songs, but led to great conversations with their parents. In the end, my understanding of 1960's British rock became an advantage when my friends wanted to sneak out and party. Their parents would never believe Carly McLean would do anything bad, not after quoting lines from Help.
But enough of that and on to why the London Eye was blinded by Abbey from the start.
Abbey Road
What can I say other than I almost cried as I approached this crosswalk. In such a silly way, I was nervous as it came into sight. Who knew a simple intersection could represent so much for this midwestern girl. Well, I suppose I did, and from my parent's proud smiles, I suppose they did as well.
As I came up to it, I just stared for a bit. I may have jumped up and down, but will not confirm that at the expense of sounding too much like a nerd. It was busier than I thought it would be, but what I really enjoyed what that we met a family of four from Philadelphia who came to do the same as we - photograph themselves crossing the road just as the iconic Beatles' record illustrates. A young girl, must've been in high school, was driving the image for her family, even going as far removing her shoes and socks to mirror the image of Paul. She was very set in how the picture must look, and so I offered to take the photo and direct as needed. I knew what she was looking for, and was a bit jealous I didn't have more of my family with me to create the same image which represents a musical phenomena.
In return, they took a few photos of me and Fasha (otherwise known as dad). We didn't adhere to the Abbey Road code, but rather looked at the camera and smiled. It was okay though - us McLeans are always creating our own versions of history. The other fabulous part of my Abbey adventure was that the same young girl (reminded me much of myself at that age) brought a Sharpie to write on the walls lining the actual studios. When she was finished making her mark, she offered it to me. I was so taken back that I was at an actual loss of words (must be the first time in my short history), so I simply wrote "From Strawberry Fields to Abbey Road, Love Carly." I know I could've been more clever, but my hand was shaking from the excitement of it all. It is also an incomplete sentence, so that bugs me a bit too. Ah well, I suppose I can always go back and elaborate.
Here I am attempting to point to where I wrote (actually it's a bit more toward my leg), but you can see Abbey Studios behind me. Still so cool.
London Eye
Now, I don't mean to diminish how cool the Eye is, simply because it went against the awesomeness of Abbey Road because it is great spectacular. It is quite grand in person, and though I didn't ride it, I can only imagine it's views.
Sitting on the Thames River, it serves as the perfect backdrop to a skyline well known around the world. I came across it several times, but really liked this photo from a river cruise I took earlier in the week. I have another nice photo with Big Ben in the middle of the Eye (taken from Tower Bridge), but selected this one as it was just a bit different that most views you may come across.
Again, I think it's clear where my heart is with this one. Abbey had the #1 seed and for many reasons. It was A Long and Winding Road that finally got me there, but Abbey Road, anyone can tell you, She Loves You. But this girl really does.
Winner: Abbey Road
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