This is our day for Wimbledon!!!! We have no tickets....we are going to get them from The Queue...which means that we have to start lining up by 5 am to HOPEFULLY get a ticket for center court (no chance), court 1 (no chance), court 2 (possibly) or court 3 (possibly). Wimbledon is approx one hour from David's and he is not certain that the trains/buses will all be running at 5am. So he calls Alex, the private taxi, who has been transporting him and McKenzie for the past 3 years to and from the airport.....Brilliant idea!!! We got up at 3:30 and 4:00 AM and were packed and out the door promptly at 4:30....our driver was waiting....Kenzie has to dismantle her project today.....she cannot join us, but got up to see us off....and stayed up!
This is Alex from the back. David is up front; Tom and I in the back of a very smooth riding Mercedes E model. Hardly a car on the road....as you can see, it is daylight already! Forgot to mention that the sun rises at 4:20 am and doesn't set till 9:20 pm. So we arrive at 5:00 am
As we enter the parking area, we are handed this guide....with 25 pages of rules, maps, prices, etc. Most tickets are sold online....at a very high price....center court can be as high as $800 on the first few days...you can imagine prices for finals week! The All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon for short, withholds several thousand to sell at the gate on game day. The first 500 may purchase tickets to center court for 75 pounds, the next 500 for court one for 65 pounds and the 500 for each of courts two and three are 48 pounds (again, on the first few days - prices increase as the week goes on). We are fine with a grounds pass for 20 pounds which would allow us in the gate but no reserved seats anywhere. That would let us sit on what is now known as "Murray Hill" and watch the big screen TV.....That's all we are hoping for. (David has never been in 3 years, knows nothing about tennis, couldn't care less, is just being a good host). As we enter, we are issued our queue card with a number....we are #1743, 1744 and 1745. Guard this with your life....they do NOT reissue!
Hundreds, maybe a thousand or so, hard to tell, have been camping overnight!!! They have been here since yesterday morning after the first queue on the first day went out!!!
The sun is rising and we are trying to count tents and and those standing in line before us!
I lost a bet with David over the color of vests....some are orange; others are yellow. I said the yellow are volunteers; the orange are paid. I lost. David had noted that the orange are senior citizens....the yellow were all 20something....they younger are paid and come from all over the UK to do it to make some quick $$$.....the seniors live nearby and love to volunteer....much like the Family Circle Cup in Charleston. This gentleman has been volunteering for the past 15 years. At 6:00 am the campers are awakened to start to disassemble and begin their separate queue. They already have their queue cards!!! We are still counting....and figuring that if we are 1743, etc, that means we have a CHANCE!! At 7:30 am, the queue begins to move....the wristbands are being handed out!!!!! WE GOT ONE for Court 2!!!!!! Talk about excited!!!! We will have a reserved seat, no matter what!!
Another two hour wait...the turnstiles don't open till 9:30 am......here is Tom beginning the last queue....just entering the entrance to the final queue.....this is an unbelievable complex process!!!!! The pictures below are along the path to the turnstiles.
So far, we are still smiling! Thanks, David, you're bein' a great sport!
These guys were in line in front of us in the queue. Two dads and two sons from Phoenix....the sons are tennis players.....they are going to queue every day this whole week. They are playing some finger games/codes which David recognized from his summer camp days!
WE ARE IN!!!!!! And our first stop...strawberries and cream!!! My visor and Tom's hat are gifts from McKenzie....they were on our bed when we arrived. She bought them for us when she visited the Wimbledon museum last week with her aunt and uncle. Thanks, Kenz!!!!!
Stan Wawrinka, from Switzerland, is first up on our Court two.
He beat Joao Sousa from Portugal, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3
Still smiling (using the money he won off me in The Queue)!!
We were starving by now....1:00 pm...so we took our picnic to the restaurant and captured an empty table....by the time we returned to the court....barely 35 minutes later, A. Radwanska had defeated Andreea Mitu from Rumania 6-2, 6-1.
What is now known as Murray Hill
We went to Court 18 to see one of my favorites, Gael Monfils, play. From this vantage point, spectators can see 18 and 19....but no reserved seats, so the queue was lengthy. Monfils is the tall beanpole on the right. Monfils played terribly...we left after the first set.
Jelena Jankovich on our Court 2 played a very disappointing match, losing to Kanepi from Estonia, 6-3, 6-2.
This Canadian, Milos Raonic, won handily....he had a bullet serve.....15 or more aces!!! It was an idyllic day, starting at 3:30 am and returning to the apartment at approximately 9 pm!!!!!!
This is what remains of that marvelous rope chair.....a pile of rope....Kenzie's hands blistered raw again....she had worked all day while we were playing.....
and surprised us with a beautiful mushroom risotto dinner with fresh asparagus hollandaise!!! Complete with a candle!! Thanks, McKenzie for the icing on the cake!!
A perfect ending to a fabulous day!!!!
