Yesterday, J and I had a great day at Wimbeldon. I was lucky enough to get tickets on a lottery for international fans. Our queue was luckily short and within an hour of arriving, we were seated in Centre Court which was covered. We were glad of this as it rained most of the day and all other courts with the exception of Court 1, which I think is also covered, had no games due to rain. In the Centre Court, one is totally oblivious of the weather.
The seats were slow in filling up but when we arrived, the Royal Box was almost full. The first match was between Radwanska and ........ As this was round 2, there was a mismatch between the players. The game was won in 2 sets.
The next match was between Djokovic and Mannarino.
Again a highly seeded player against a lowly seeded player but in spite of it being over after three sets, it was a good match to watch and D didn't have it all his way.
The Court filled to capacity as the outsider, Englishman, Marcus Willis took on the mighty Federer.
Willis was a wild card- played all the rounds which got him to Round 1, won it and was now in Round 2. He was a good player and challenged Federer at times. The crowd was behind him and the oohs and aahs made for a fun contest.
It appears Willis was about to give up professional tennis but his new success has changed this. Both Federer and John Mc Enroe have advised him that he has a future if he loses weight, becomes fitter and spends time on the practice courts rather than always playing matches. He won £50k for getting to round 2, he had only won c £3k so far this year!!
Exiting, we passed Henman Hill. It wasn't a pleasant day to be sitting on the hill in the rain watching the big screen!!
We repared to Covent Garden to dine at Balazars, and later adjourned to our hotel, tired. It had been a wonderful experience even if the weather was not conducive to strawberries and cream or Pimms on the lawn. We did however, imbibe a split of champagne!!
This morning J left for work at 8.00. I breakfasted at 9, left the hotel at 10 and took a walk in Kensington Gardens. Unlike yesterday, it was a fine, sunny morning and I really enjoyed exploring the Gardens.
I went to see Kensington Palace in its amazing setting.
I also found Henry Moore's Arch.
Having spent a couple of hours here in the morning sunshine, I took a Tube to Bank and met second son for lunch.
Afterwards I visited the nearby Bank of England's museum, (well worth a visit) and then walked to London Bridge train station , where I got a fast train to Gatwick. (30 minutes - not the Gatwick Express, which is very expensive).
It too was an enjoyable day - a pleasant mid week break!
