Wimbledon

Our friend from Hitachi, David Han, who also house sat for us when we were in India, is in London this week. One of his primary goals is to see Wimbledon while he is here. We agreed a couple of months ago that we would go with him on opening day, the 26th, to see the matches. After doing a ton of research online as to tickets, locations and times, we talked to him last night to agree to a plan. We found out that the matches were to begin at noon, and that we would need to get there early to get a grounds pass to get in. We could have camped out all night to get a seat in center court, but Erin and I agreed a grounds pass would suffice. David, of course didn't want to miss a moment and wanted us to meet him at 7am at the gates to wait in line. We agreed that we would meet him...some time after 9am. Three hours in line is enough devotion for us.

We went to bed, excited about the idea of Wimbledon the next day. Suddenly, the phone is ringing, and ringing, and ringing...by the time we realized that the sky wasn't falling we missed the phone. I went got my cell phone, assuming it was David and saw that there were two missed calls. One at 6:15 and one at 6:16. Only the ringing phone was the house phone, not the cell...make that one more missed call at 6:17. It was now 6:18 and I called David back. He informed us that it was raining and likely to rain all day. But that we should still try to go regardless. I said that sounded good...thanks for the update... and we'd call him back in "a couple of hours" after finishing sleeping. He asked what we were doing because he was bored....at 6:18 am. Afterall he had already gone for a run and needed something to do. He said he wasn't feeling any jet lag effects either after arriving yesterday afternoon. I hung up on him and went back to sleep.

Finally we got in touch with David around 9 (apparently he fell asleep again...ha!). We agreed that we should try to go to Wimbledon, because it wasn't raining as hard anymore. So Erin and I put our shorts (her skirt) and flip-flops on. Rain be damned! As we walked to the tube, there was no rain, just umbrellas in our shorts pockets. We may be getting lucky...The four of us, with David's friend Stephanie, made it out to Wimbledon after a brief 30 minute tube ride. We walked the mile from the tube and realized we missed the queue for the non ticket holders and began our walk back up the road. We found the queue and realized there wasn't actually a queue, only a security stop. We were in.

Quickly we were able to find seats at court 19 and watched the beginning of a match. It was 4 to 4 and 30 minutes in, when play was suspended. At first the warning on the PA said 1 to 2 hours. So we walked around. Eventually we found the practice courts and were able to watch Maria Hotapova, er, Sharapova take practice swings with her coach. I even was able to get my picture taken with her. Pictures coming as soon as I find the cable to connect my camera to the computer.

Following that we went to get autographs as even the practice courts were closed due to rain. As the players went to the locker room we were able to watch Leyton Hewitt, Rafael Nadal, and a few other people we had no clue who they were walk by. We just weren't quick enough to get autographs. We did get a couple though. One we had no idea who it was, the other from Andy Murray, a young Brit.

We then spent about 45 minutes waiting in line for Wimbledon gear, then went for our requisite strawberries and cream....all while still waiting out the rain. We were so excited for the strawberries and cream at Wimbledon, that it took us until about half way through eating to realize, while shivering in wet shorts, that they are very overrated. Then the PA came back on and said play was likely to resume in another couple of hours...it was almost 4 already. We threw away the remaining cream, popped open the new Wimbledon umbrella and got on the bus back home. We'll look like grizzled veterans when we return in a few days with Wimbledon hats, tshirts and umbrellas....and jeans.

Overall it was exceptionally cool and we can't wait to try to go again. We will try to go one more day this week and possibly next week when Andy and Jen are in town. Grounds passes are a mere 17 pounds...really pretty cheap for a day of entertainment in London.