Royalty Tours USA

Friday, February 5, 2016

Royalty takes a tour of Classic Rock & Beatle sites in London, England!‏

Once again thanks to my pal Brad Bultman who strongly suggested that I take a music tour while I was in London. He did the tour on one of his many visits there. He even e-mailed the company, London Rock Tours & he arranged to book me on the tour back on Thursday afternoon, October 7th from 2-530PM‎. He sent me the confirmation. He said I just needed to come to the Original Tour Visitors Centre in Trafalgar Square at 1:30PM. I wound up there after I finished my own tour of London that morning. 

Upon arrival, I saw a guy named Bob who was in charge of their tour reservations. I gave him my name & I paid him for the tour. Brad told me that would be the case. He said to take a seat & relax. He said we plan to leave here at 2PM. He also said ‎that depending on traffic we should get back around 5:30-6PM. He wound up being our tour guide. He was entertaining & very knowledgeable throughout the tour.

Once he rounded everybody up we proceeded to all get into the "magic bus." He proceeded to take us on a magical mystery tour. Along the way, we got to see many historic landmarks & neighbourhoods from the legendary British invasion just before my time in the early 1960's. We also got to see places from people who changed the music world in the 70's & 80's as well.

Back of the "Magic" Bus
Side view of the "Magic" Bus
Tail end of the "Magic" Bus
We made numerous stops in the process as we passed through Chelsea, Kensington, Holland Park, Notting Hill Gate, St. John's Wood, Marylebone & the West End. We got to see different recording studios, pubs, clubs & boutiques as Bob shared many stories with us.

Bill Wyman's Sticky Fingers Restaurant
We got to take a half hour break when we stopped off at Bill Wyman's Sticky Fingers Restaurant. We got to see the former Rolling Stones bassist guitar among other amazing memorabilia that was hanging on the walls all around the restaurant. If we had more time, I would have sat down & ate a good meal.

Jimmy Page's Mansion
When we got back on the bus, we continued our magic carpet ride. We passed by the houses that legends once lived in or still live in. We saw Brian Epstein, the Beatles' first manager‎'s flat, Ringo Starr's King Road apartment, John & Yoko's first home & Paul McCartney's current London home. We also passed the site where Jimi Hendrix died. In addition, we passed by the mansion that belonged to Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin. It was truly a ride down memory lane especially for those people like myself who appreciate the music from that era & in particular the Fab Four. They changed the way music was played & they made memories for future generations to come. We got to go to a gift shop that sold Beatles souvenirs & nostalgia. They were priceless commodities. Furthermore, we got to hear some of their legendary music that added a special touch especially since I was in the area where it all began way back in the day. When we got back on the bus we wound up riding down Abbey Road where the Beatles crossed the street. We then stopped & we were able to get out & walk across the famous street like the Fab Four did. That was such a moving experience. We also saw the Abbey Road Studios which were formerly called EMI Studios.

Abbey Road
Me walking across Abbey Road
Abbey Road Studios
As the tour was winding down & we were making our way back towards the drop off point, we got to ride down Baker Street. Bob the tour guide appropriately played Gerry Rafferty's legendary hit song, Baker Street for us. It was a lasting memory to a great afternoon of musical remembrance. I'm so happy I listened to Brad. Being a music fan, I knew it would be worth my while & it sure was.

As for the end of the ride, Bob was able to accommodate my special request to get dropped off near an Underground station. He let me out & he directed exactly where to go. I wound up taking a short walk to get to it. 

Stay tuned for another special post that will go into detail how I spent that evening.

Thank you for reading & following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

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