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Hyde Park
The rose garden. I have written often about my tendency to over plan my life. It really kicks in when Mom and Lynn come to visit as I want them to have a good time and to see as much as possible in the time when they are here. This time, however, we decided not to put anything in the diary, but to see where life took us. Deep breath -- I know I can do this.
On Sunday, we met for a late breakfast and decided that the day was just too lovely to be inside. We went for a long walk around Hyde Park. Funnily enough, this is often what I do on a Sunday. I find a part of London and I go exploring. The best part of this wonderful city is all the hidden gems. We found two today. The first is a place called the Pavilion at the bottom of the park. It has tennis courts, a bowls green and a nine hole putting course all laid out amongst beautiful flowers. Just gorgeous.
The second was the Italian garden. Loads of statues and fountains that really did give a feeling of being in Italy. The flowers were
Hyde Park
More roses. out and both Lynn and I took many, many photos over the course of the afternoon. We found a new pub for a snack and a drink. Just a lovely way to spend the afternoon.
We spent a quiet evening hanging out at my flat and going for a curry -- another typical activity for a Sunday! While we ate, we discussed what we should do the next day. The weather was promising to hold up, so after the champagne and some wine, we decided that we would try to head back to Wimbledon and see if we could have another day at the tennis. I had heard stories of how difficult it is to get in without tickets, so we decided to give it a chance and, if we couldn't get in, we would have a walk on the Common and lunch at a pub.
We left the hotel around 9.45 and by 10.45 (more of Lynn's train karma later), we were in the queue for tickets. I have never seen anything so organised in all my life. Literally thousands of people turn up on the day hoping to get into the grounds. There are stewards everywhere
Hyde Park
Mom and Lynn. to ensure that the process is calm and orderly. We entered into a big field and were given "Queue Cards". These give you the number of your place in line -- my number was 7727 which gives you an idea of how many people turn up. We asked a steward right at the start if it was worth the wait. We were assured that we were well within the number that were going to be allowed entry. Sure enough, by 12.25 we were in the grounds.
We spent the first part of the day moving among the courts watching various matches. The first was on Court 4 where we were so close, I could smell the grass. I had never been so close to a tennis match in my life. It was very exciting. When that match was over, we wandered for a while stopping for lunch. The three of us had decided that today was a junk food day, so we indulged in fish and chips washed down with Pimms.
We then queued to get into Court 3 to see a mens doubles match. We managed to get three single seats, but the match was not all
Hyde Park
Mom and Lynn with the Serpentine. the exciting so we were able to end up sitting together -- luckily, in the shade. Over the course of the day, both Mom and I got sunburned. Oh well, it's all just part of the experience.
The match that we had all decided we had to see was a doubles match with the Williams sisters. As they were playing on Court 2 (one of the courts one needs a special ticket to get onto), we got into the queue for ticket re-sales. This is actually one of the great things that they do at Wimbledon. As people are leaving, they drop their tickets for Centre Court, Court 1 or Court 2 into special boxes. The stewards then collect them and re-sell them for £5. All the proceeds go to charity. After a rather long wait, Mom decided to take matters into her own hands and managed to convince a steward that as we only wanted Court 2 (Centre Court was very popular as Andy Murray was playing -- in what turned out to be the match of the day), he should let us jump the queue. He did! As a result, we were all at the Court before
Hyde Park
Princess Diana's memorial. they started playing. I must say, it was very exciting to see these women play tennis. And, my goodness but they are strong! One of Serena's serves was clocked at 126 MPH! During the match, we continued our junk food day by eating sausage sandwiches with more Pimms!
When that match was over, we wandered around to see what was happening. Lynn and Mom ended up watching Jamie Murray play mixed doubles (he won last year), but I couldn't see so I went up to the big screen on the hill (it was called Henman Hill -- it's now Murray Mound) to watch the Andy Murray match. Yes -- it is no coincidence. They are brothers. I was in time to see him win the third set which completely turned the match around. I watched the fourth set, but by that time Mom and Lynn had come back and we decided that one more bit of junk food was in order. We left the crowd to find pizza and wine. Everywhere was empty because the crowd were all screaming for Andy, so we were able to follow the match vicariously. Realising that it was almost over, we decided to
Pavilion
A view of the Prince Albert Memorial. head out to beat the scrum.
Now, earlier in this blog, I alluded to Lynn's train karma. It has become a standing joke among the three of us. Whenever Lynn is in London, we never wait for a tube train. As soon as we hit the platform, the train is either there or is arriving. While we were eating our pizza, we debated about whether or not to take the tube back into town or to treat ourselves to a taxi. Lynn insisted that the journey would be faster on the tube and about one tenth of the price. We decided to brave it and see what happened.
For those of you who don't live in London, the District Line is one of my least favourite tube lines. It goes in three different directions and I always end up waiting for at least ten minutes for the train I want to arrive. Tonight? We arrived at the tube station and a train was on the platform (but of course it was, Lynn was with us). However, as we were running to get on the train, we noticed that it was going to Edgeware Road. Let me just tell
Pavilion
The putting green. you, I couldn't believe it. This was the PERFECT train and, if I had been on my own, would never have arrived. We left the grounds at 9.15. By 10.00, we were sitting in the pub around the corner from the hotel sharing a bottle of wine. I keep threatening Lynn that I am going to kidnap her and make her travel around London with me!
While we drank our wine, we discussed the merits of the experience we had on Saturday and the experience we had today. Saturday was great fun -- no waiting in queues, great food that was served to us, seats on Centre Court in the shade (and, therefore, no sunburn). I think, however, that I preferred today. Although we did have to stand and walk A LOT, I felt much more a part of the scene than I had on Saturday. It was great fun to sit so close to the courts, see so much more tennis and eat all the junk food. Sometimes, it's just better to be one of the crowd than removed from it!
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