A Famous Road, a Famous Hill, and a Famous Orphan

Today was another day full of literary adventure.  But first, we start with some good old Rock and Roll.

We began our day by visiting Abbey Road, made famous by The Beatles, of course.  It was pretty cool to see such an iconic place in person, but I'm sure all of the people driving by were not so impressed with the tourists walking back and forth, swinging their arms about. But we did it anyway, because how can you go to Abbey Road and not recreate the picture?

Caution: this post doesn't actually have the picture of me crossing the road.  Another person has it on their camera, and it will be updated shortly.

Abbey Road Studios, where The Beatles recorded almost all of their albums from 1962 to 1970.

My view as I was crossing the famous zebra crosswalk.

 We also passed by the Lord's Cricket Ground on our tour today.  Did you know that there is an upcoming International match that will last 5 days? Those are some dedicated athletes.

We also headed to Regent's Park and Primrose Hill, which is featured in the book 101 Dalmatians. Pongo and Missis (Perdita in the movie) live on the outskirts of Regents Park.  They meet in Queen Mary's Rose Garden in Regent's Park, and they run to Primrose Hill after they discover their puppies had gone missing.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to see any dalmatians on our walk today. Primrose Hill is also known for it's famous residents, including John Cleese, Morrissey, Sylvia Plath, Alan Rickman, and W.B. Yeats.

We passed the zoo on the way to the hill.  Hello giraffes!

View from the top of the hill.

After we had a nice picnic lunch on the hill, we headed toward Camden Lock Market, which is a large outdoor market with tons of merchandise to buy and tons of delicious smelling food to eat.  It's also full of pick-pockets, so make sure to watch your bag if you visit.

Today's photography focus was using our macro setting on our camera.  I'm quite pleased with how this turned out.

We took a break from walking and the sun to make some dinner.  My flatmate and I made a very traditional English meal of canned soup and stale bread.

"Please sir, I don't want some more..." - Sarah, after eating our dinner.

We thought it would get us in the mood for our next adventure, which was a walking tour of Oliver Twist.  We downloaded a podcast and map from this website, and began our tour around London.  It was really cool, because it took us to places we wouldn't have passed by before.  And just a tip if you plan on doing this: The first 6 stops are great.  They tell you why each spot is significant, read excerpts of the book for you, and even play music and sound effects in the background.  But when you get to stop 7, all of a sudden it's talking about stop 9, and everything gets confusing.  We learned this the hard way.

Stop 1: The former agricultural hall site where Oliver made his entry into London.

The map with awesome illustrations, but less than awesome actual map skills.

Stop #2: The Harlequin, where plays were put on that influenced Dickens' writing. Dickens' friend, Joe Grimaldi, is remembered inside for being the creator of clowning.

Stop #3: Spa Green Park, where a Quaker workhouse used to stand nearby.

Stop #4: Spa Fields - This used to be Clerkenwell House of Detention, and the underground chambers are still beneath this playground. Creeeepy.

Sharing headphones like best friends do.

Stop #5: Mount Pleasant, where a prison stood that used tactics such as the Silent Treatment (prisoners were not allowed to speak to each other) and the Treadmill Treatment (prisoners had to walk on a treadmill-like machine for 8 hours a day, equivalent to hiking a mountain each day).

Stop #6: The Coach and Horses, where Hockley-in-the-Hole existed in Oliver's day.

Stop #7, but really Stop #9: The Hat and Tun, the site of the Garden Magistrates Court, presided by A.S. Laing, on whom Dickens based Mr. Fang.

Stop #9, but really Stop #7: The One Tun, site of Fagin's headquarters, and right next to the original Three Cripples Pub.

We stopped in this pub to get a drink (mine being Diet Coke, of course) and met Dave, the adorable old man who works there, and he shared with us little tidbits about the pub.

Stop #8: The Old Sessions House, a law court that is the setting of The Artful Dodger and Oliver in a pick-pocketing incident.

After we discovered the map and podcast where not in sync with each other, we wandered around and around, asking countless locals to guide us in the right direction (thankfully all of them were kind and courteous) and eventually made it back to the underground and home in time to work on our homework for the rest of the night.  See all of you wonderful readers tomorrow!