There are places I remember

We're leaving for more adventures in northern England and Scotland in a little under 9 hours and I have just barely thrown my clothes in the wash. I haven't packed a single thing into my suitcase. This, ladies and gentlemen, is what we will call a long night.

But oh how every minute I "wasted" today was so worth it.

First of all, I just have to mention that after the fireside last night I went with Katie and Annie to Westminster Pier to see Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, etc. at night. The night air was perfect and the company was too. Especially because they waited and took pictures while I went on my first carousel ride since the time I went to Tweetsie Railroad with Grandma and Grandpa Hiatt when I was 8 or 10. My horse's name was Kevin, and I couldn't help but imagine I was Jane and/or Michael Banks and that Kevin would start hopping off the carousel and we'd go hop into a real horse race! I shouted, "Tally ho! Tally ho!" and more than my share of "giddy-up"s and "yee-haw"s. It was the time of my life.

Today after class I went with Jazlyn and Janelle for one last trip to the Café Creperie. So delicious. Then I just wanted to get home and tidy up the room a bit, so I snapped my fingers and it was a game. I visited the girls up in flat 21 for a while too, and that was good to hang with them.

Then the real fun started.

I've mentioned before that I like slash love the Beatles, right? Well let me tell you exactly why.

I have this oldest brother of mine named Greg. He, being the oldest, has been a huge role model for all of my siblings and me at some point or another, usually because of his good looks and great guitar skills. He's strange, but we love him.

Daddy told me one time that Greg started to listen to some music that Daddy wasn't too fond of. I don't remember the group or why Daddy wasn't a fan, but he said that he told Greg, "Why don't you listen to those . . . Beatles or whatever? They're probably pretty good." And I suppose that's where it all began. At least, if you ask Daddy he'll tell you that he had everything to do with it, but those rights come with his humble trophy.

Anyway, Greg started playing guitar when he was 15. I've never asked him what the first songs he learned were, but I imagine that among those firsts are likely some Beatles songs. For as long as I can remember, he's been singing and playing their songs. I remember him teaching Kelsey and me how to sing in harmony by teaching us how to sing Help! 

So . . . I love Greg. Greg loves the Beatles. By the communicative property of love, I love the Beatles.

That's the Readers' Digest version, anyway.

The point of that story is to show that I love the Beatles not only for their creative genius and goofy hunkiness, but because their music has always played in the background of my life. So ever since I knew I was coming on this trip, I've looked forward to visiting Abbey Road.

Today that dream came true.

I went with Liz F, Aimee, Erica, and Janelle and we took a few different shifts to get our own little parody shots of the fab four's penultimate album cover. Call me crazy, but I got such a rush from waiting for the perfect moment when all the cars were out of the way so we could cross without getting honked at and stuff. I even stepped barefoot and out of sync for our first picture, imitating the supposedly-dead Paul McCartney. What a blast. It's not perfect, but it sure was great! A special thanks to Liz B for coming to be our photographer. She's a great sport and an even better friend.

My favorite thing about this is Janelle's Barbie pose.

My other favorite thing about this is that as I was leaving I told Brad when we were leaving and that he could look for us on the Abbey Road webcam.

He got us.

Running across to be on the correct side

It took a while for all the traffic to die down

Another shot at it

I thought it was a good time to go, but no one followed.

Running away again

That's the ticket. (Now I'm John Lennon!)

This one's my favorite. We had just gotten a pretty good picture and this car starts honking at us and the guy yells, "OBEY THE LAW!" so we ran for it. Liz F is in the air and it's the best.

After that some of the girls were ready to go home, but I wanted to walk around just a little bit more. Violet Hill, the namesake of an awesome Coldplay song, is just a couple of blocks away from Abbey Road so I recruited the company of Aimee and Liz F to make that little journey. We did make it over there, but on the way we stopped and signed our names on the wall in front of Abbey Road Studios along with our favorite Beatles lyrics. I chose part of "In My Life."

Side story: When I first started picking up some guitar (don't you love my completely unintended pun?) I wanted to play Beatles songs just like my brothers. As soon as I could do bar chords, Kyle taught me to play "In My Life." Again, that memory gives that song a special place in my heart.

"But of all these friends and lovers, there is no one compares with you."
Beautiful words.

(Aimee got some great pictures of our graffiti so I'll get those up soon.)

I don't want to sound all melodramatic and silly, but I am kind of melodramatic and silly, and here's what it all boils down to:

London really has captured my heart, and blown me away with its beauties and wonders, both simple and grand. I never thought that I -- I, Katelyn, small-town North Carolina girl -- could actually love living in a big city. But I have loved my time here and I am sad to go, even though I am more than excited for Scotland, Spain, Italy, and (most of all) the Good Old North State.

London has been my home only for a month. But it will certainly be one of those places I'll remember all my life.