From my trip to Wimbledon in 2009:
That my dear friends, is my seat in Centre Court, Wimbledon, Friday, June 26, 2009. I got to see Novak Djokovic take apart an American named Mardy Fish. It was almost embarrassing rooting for a guy named Mardy, and a last name Fish. But the crowds were clearly rooting for him, as they hate Djok. He is known as a poor sportsman and uses every bit of the rules to his advantage. This would be frequent potty breaks and “injury” timeouts.
I arrived a little later than normal, but it still takes over three hours to do the queue. I met the nicest family from Dallas, the Korineks, and four of their five children. One son, Alex is an aspiring junior player, who may make this show one day. We split after going into the gates and joined up again for the Centre Court extravaganza. However, I must say that although Centre Court has its mystique, I much preferred the ambience in Court #1.
I also had another helping of fish and chips, by far their best food item here, not counting Hagen Dazs. It was much cooler today since it rained a bit last night. I did break out my rain poncho from Peru for about 5 minutes only. But the queue was fun with my new friends from Dallas.
Now for the best part, I met Ross, a crazy Brit (above) who was pitching a British flag tent for Saturday’s big tennis matches. They say Saturday is the only day that requires an overnight stay just to get in the queue. He said he has been doing this for 21 years. He wore the British jack T shirt, slacks, hat, and underwear. I have some photos that I will send along in a few days.
I also met a couple American teachers, visiting from Fez, Morocco, where they teach at the International School. They were originally from Dallas and enjoyed talking to my new friends. They said trying to learn Arabic is VERY difficult.
I sat next to two more Brits at Centre Court. Both guys are plasterers. I seem to attract them, as I did yesterday. They said the two Italian ex-pat Venetian plaster guys from yesterday are just a bunch of hucksters trying to sell crown molding.
I climbed up to the top of Henman Hill around 2pm and took a 20–30-minute Gerry nap. I guess the full days, standing in queues, watching tennis, and carb loading has taken its toll on me. Plus, I have not had any alcohol, other than the Pimm’s #1 on Day 1.
Tomorrow, I will take a bus tour to famous Stonehenge (it was a total waste of time and money). I have been looking forward to it for many years. And I just was not interested in going there on my previous trips here. I will try to make the big Harrod’s Annual Sale before the bus tour. Harrod’s was fantastic, with an oyster and champagne lunch followed by some shopping for a J. Lindeberg polo shirt.
Fast forward to 2017: If you are a tennis fan, I strongly suggest you go to Wimbledon, probably one of the two or three best sporting events in the world. I would rank it right up there with the Masters, U.S. Open, Kentucky Derby, and Indy 500.
Imagine hitting these great sporting events in May and June (and July): French Open, Tour de France, Wimbledon, and the British Open.
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