Sunday July 5, 2026
Today our tour didn’t start until 11:00 so we had a more leisurely morning. We took a couple of trains to meet our guide for our walking tour that I booked through London Walks. London Walks - London's Best Guided Walking Tours
The guide
scheduled to do the tour was sick so a different one filled in. He does the
same tour but on different days. While we were waiting for the rest of the
group to arrive there was a crazy man screaming mostly unintelligible things.
He kept walking past the group and crossed back and forth the 4 crosswalks in
kind of a square path all the while screaming. (later in afternoon at Piccadilly
Square he walked past us there – he gets around! He must have been screamed out as he was quiet but his clothing and wild hair was unmistakenly him)
I think the guide was in a bit of a hurry to finish the tour as he kind of walked at light speed. All except the one young guy in the group was always at least a block behind. He did do all the stops and spent much time telling the stories of the Beatles, but between the sites he moved fast. He always made sure we were all there before he moved on. Highlights included their Central London “Apple offices” on Savile Row where they played their famous rooftop session (their last live performance). The tiny art gallery where John Lennon first set eyes on Yoko Ono, and Paul McCartney’s headquarters.
"You’ll visit their legendary recording studios – Abbey Road Studios. You’ll get to step onto the world-famous zebra crossing from the Abbey Road album cover. You’ll walk the walk and stop traffic on the Abbey Road crossing – a moment for your own iconic photoshoot." (from tour description)
Well, we didn’t get the iconic photo as after showing us the outside of Abbey Road Studios (it’s still a working studio so there is no inside visit) he quickly left. He said that due to road work he couldn’t stop traffic for the photo. So, we were all left to take our own shots with everyone else in the crosswalk. Ah well, not a biggie.
It was lunch time, but we weren’t finding any restaurants in the area and headed back to the train station. I needed a bathroom break but none near the train station. They directed us to one past a park that we never found. We did come across Fora Mediterranean Kitchen and went in for lunch. The food was awesome, but the service was a bit slow, and we had a London Eye reservation. Since my tummy was acting up the comfort food was just what I needed. I ordered the Moussaka since it’s usually in a white sauce, but this one came with red instead of béchamel, so Greg switched his Lamb Goulash over mashed potatoes with me and that really hit the spot. (my tongue is sensitive to acidic things)
We walked back to the train station and felt like salmon swimming upstream. A huge crowd of people were headed to a sporting event (cricket, I think), and it took eons to get through them. Finally, we make it to the train station and were told the train station was closed. (it’s the only one in the area) It was open when we stopped to ask about bathrooms. Greg Google Mapped us to the closest station and it was a long walk. We knew we were going to be late for our London Eye reservation.
We got to the train station and had no clue where to go. None of the stops looked like they worked. I stopped into a mini-mart, and the guy had us changing trains after the first stop. Luckily, there was a woman where you scan your card and we asked her. She said don’t change trains, go 6 stops and you will be within walking distance.
We were way over 30 minutes late and not knowing how strict they were with the times we just got in line and hoped for the best. No problem, he scanned our tickets and got us in line. Phew! (this was one of our uses of the Go Pass)
We figured they would cram a huge
crowd of people into the cabins, but they only put 12 in each so there is lots
of room to move around. They were air conditioned, which was awesome. It takes
30 minutes to make the full rotation, and you don’t even know you are moving. After
we got out a team goes in and checks for bombs. (and if you left anything they
would find it)
Next, we took some trains to Trafalgar Square. It was raining when I last saw it and this time was even worse. The Square was still closed from a concert the night before so you couldn’t get in or really see it. So, most photos are taken through the gaps in the fencing.
We stopped at St Martin-in-the-Fields Church which was closed for an event so we couldn't enter.
Piccadilly Circus is best at
night, and we would see it better on the night we take in a West End show. We
had such a filling lunch that we thought we’d grab something small in China
Town. We had spring rolls (no photo) and the
best pillowy pork buns.
It was early to bed tonight as we needed to be up for a very early train to Liverpool for our Magical Mystery Beatles tour.
Photo Album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/dhqyketJ2tTjE3Ft8
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