London, Finally: Part 7

 Well before my trip, I had discovered--and promptly booked a spot on--a tour called "Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll." It was a two-and-a-half hour bus tour of the big music spots in London (heavy on the Beatles, naturally). 

It was a quick jaunt from my hotel to the meeting place for the tour, and I had a bit of time to poke around Picadilly Circus.

I soon found myself with a group of similarly-confused tourists as we waited for our driver to show. Someone had called the company and found he was stuck in traffic and running a bit late. 

But eventually he made it, and we were off to see what we could see. We started in the most posh parts of London. Details of all the places we saw are fuzzy now, near the end of August, and my pictures are a little bit out of order. No matter!

Part of the tour took us through hip, young Camden Town.

Colorful Camden Town

And of course, the tour had to include many Beatles-related stops. We stopped before Abbey Road to visit a tiny records and souvenirs shop.

Incidentally, we also passed the hospital
where Queen Elizabeth was born.

Below are a couple pics of the building where the Beatles held their famous rooftop concert. It would be the last time they performed live together.

Not exactly rock-and-roll, but certainly
there was sex and drugs.

Abbey Road was...well, Abbey Road. With all of the time I've spent in London in this lifetime, I had never made it that way. And while their history is certainly awesome and iconic, it wasn't any sort of choirs-of-angels-singing moment for me. 

I took a picture of the famous zebra crossing, but I can't find it. (It's just a zebra crossing.)

As for the next few pics, I have forgotten what they were about, except for the one that shows where Hendrix stood for a picture.

The tour--for all that I've forgotten so much of it now--was very entertaining. The driver was a bit of an aging hippy, but so passionate about music and full of amusing trivia. It was a small bus, so just a few people, and very easy to strike up fun conversations about good music. 

He even knew who Keane are. I showed him a picture of my signed drum head from Richard, and he was quite impressed. 

After the tour, I stopped for lunch, then made my way towards a place I'd been wanting to visit.

On my way, I passed a small church and popped inside. Imagine my delight when I realized it was where the iconic "first Kathony kiss" in Bridgerton was filmed!

Finally, a visit to my friend Cath. 

On my last trip, I found a purse and matching wallet that I loved and used into oblivion. I was so excited to visit her shop and treat myself to a new handbag. 

While there was wonderful and adorable stuff, alas, I did not find any bags I wanted to buy. 

I plunged onward, walking back to Picadilly Circus and then onward to Leicester Square.

At Leicester Square, I looked around the massive Lego Store. 

You could build your own Lego person.
I found this head and immediately thought
of Kay, so I built a figure and sent him a pic.
"I'm not a ginger!" "I know, but LOOK AT
THE BEARD AND GLASSES!!"

This particular day was noteworthy in that Boris Johnson was facing a vote of no confidence. Pretty much all of my English friends think he's a bit of a clown, and certainly what I know of his ways has me thinking so, too.

I went back to the hotel early. I wanted to get plenty of sleep. The next day would take me to another place with a B-name, but it would not be new to me. No, indeed...it would be dear Burnham-on-Crouch, for a visit with Kathy and Derek. I could hardly wait.