One item on the to do list was always going to get done and that was to visit the Wimbledon Tennis Championships.  We didn’t have tickets, but that didn’t stop the wife and I from heading down to Wimbledon from London to try our luck anyway.  We waited 1.5 hours in a kilometer long line, but eventually made our way in.  Entry to the grounds after 5PM cost us £14 and tickets to centre court after that were only £5 more.  It was amazing to see centre court where so much tennis history has taken place, not to mention it’s where the Queen herself is sitting today.  We saw Victoria Azarenka thrash Mirjana Lucic while making noises I felt would be more suitable in the bedroom than on a tennis court.

Start of the giant Wimbledon line

Centre Court at Wimbledon, across from the Royal Box

While at Wimbledon we obviously had to eat strawberries and cream.  We brought our own strawberries (£2 for a large basket) and crème fraîche (£1), which we sprinkled brown sugar on.  It was delightful.  We also sampled the strawberries and cream sold at Wimbledon.  For £2.50 we received eight strawberries sitting in what looked like unwhipped whipping cream sprinkled with sugar.  It was not nearly as good and if you go to Wimbledon, I recommend bringing your own delightful concoction.  We also brought our own bottle of champagne, which I found pretty crazy considering the attitudes in North American sports concerning outside alcohol.  We were well equipped, but I still needed to check out what kind of beer was made available to patrons at the All England Club.  Guinness and Grolsch for £4.40 a pint, not an English beer in sight.  I was a bit surprised by that, but then we were in the chump area and not in one of the fancier clubs, chalets, restaurants or other gathering places of the privileged few.

Strawberries and Cream with Champagne at Wimbledon

Wimbledon was an amazing place to visit and I’m going to register for 2011 tickets when the lottery opens in September.  We even caught the beginning of Isner vs Mahut on Court 18 in what we didn’t know would turn into the epic longest tennis match of all time.  Turns out Boris Becker was watching too.

Boris Becker above Court 18

Cheers,

Chris