Dec 19,2014
This morning I said “Good Morning London.” After having been in London for 6 days and with the rainy and cold weather, today was different; it was sunny and absolutely beautiful. The sun was shining and it was not so cold. And to add to the weather conditions, our class’s journey and destination this morning was “Wimbledon.” Yes, you heard right: we were where the crème of the crème of tennis players have played before my time, during, and the future to come. What a great day to write a blog for my class.
As a child, I enjoyed watching tennis matches on TV as they played at Wimbledon. It was one of my favorite sports. Quite often, I played with the best opponent in the world, my dad. We would play for hours and I would visualize that I was on the courts of Wimbledon. Well, the wish did come true. I actually visited Wimbledon. My class and I, accompanied by Dr. K and Dawn Fagnan, took the train to Wimbledon. Actually, the last stop on the train was “Wimbledon.”
After, the stop we walked almost 2 miles to get to the actual grounds. We were welcomed by Ben, who provided the class a 2-hour guided tour of the grounds, with very interesting information and protocols that go on before the annual matches in the summer. Ben gave the class a 101 on Wimbledon.
The Wimbledon Championship is said to be known as the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world. One of the distinguished details of tennis-playing in Wimbledon is that players play on the grass. The championship is held for 2 weeks starting is June and ending in July. You can obtain your tickets through a lottery, which is not always guaranteed, or by “ queue.” These types of tickets are given the day of and only a certain amount are allocated.
The Wimbledon is not funded by the government; instead, it has its members, just like a country club would have members. The way of becoming one, you must be approved and reviewed by 6 members. And if you are accepted, you must wait until someone dies in order to take their position.
Only tennis matches are held at the Wimbledon. It is used for no other events, though at times, the grounds might have a special event on the complex. Also, there is a great display of Wimbledon in their museum. It has 63 restaurants on the grounds, but the most popular food to eat at Wimbledon is strawberries and crème. The site visit was all I expected. I felt that I had a real seat at the Wimbledon this morning.
After, the tour we had some free time. I sat, had a glass of wine, and prepared myself for our next activity, which was high tea. We went to “Bea’s Bloomsbury” tea house, right in front of St Paul’s Cathedral. I had vanilla black, which is a tea that I added milk to. As a matter a fact, this is the first time that I added milk to my tea — its taste was very soothing. I enjoyed it with small sandwiches and sweets, one being the authentic scone which was quite delicious.
After tea, I walked with my 2 classmates, Karol and Jazmin, to Piccadilly Circle. I had been there before, but I wanted to show them. This area reminds me of Times Square in New York. After all this, we headed to Mickey D’s. I was craving a burger. We sat and enjoyed just like in Miami.
Today was my blog day, but there has not been a day that I have not enjoyed this trip – rain or shine. I am looking forward to tomorrow’s journey. Good night.