Watching Abbey Road

A quick Google Images search for Abbey Road returns the iconic photograph of four Liverpool lads engaging in a famous stroll through a crosswalk of the London street.

As Miss Cellania revealed previously, Google also returns a number of other incarnations of the images; the Simpsons making the famous walk with Homer in Lennon’s famous white suit, album covers by other bands recreating the image, and many, many photos of tourists taking their turn.

In fact, I would venture to say (with absolutely no data to back me up) that Abbey Road photos may be the world's second most common staged tourist group photo – right behind the picture of a group of people holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Now, thanks to this live webcam posted on Abbey Road, it’s possible to see just how often this actually occurs. And from watching for just a few minutes, it seems that it happens pretty much constantly. The fact that Abbey Road is actually a busy street bustling with cars and busses makes it all the more entertaining to witness, as eager tourists must carefully calculate and quickly execute their Beatles pic and then quickly dance out of the way of traffic.

Here is a screenshot of two people I witnessed that didn't let the fact that they were missing Ringo and George stop them:

The people who live in the area and frequently travel down that street must have long since just accepted the daily necessity of slamming on their brakes to prevent mowing down a smiling, fanny-packed traveler. Such is the reality of living in birthplace of some of the world's most famous and beloved music.