Wimbledon!

Last weekend, the girls and I headed out at the crack of dawn, on our way to the ultimate tennis event - Wimbledon. It was a long enough trip just to get there - up at 4.30am, out the door at 5.45, and arriving at Southfields tube station at 8. 20 minutes later Tamara and I had met up with the other two girls, Yana and Sabrina, and were on our way to join the queue.

It was amazingly well organised, to the point where we hardly noticed that we'd waited 4 hours just to get in the gate. Other organisations should take note - this is how to do it and keep your crowds happy! It really was phenomenal; my queue card number was 7965, and we were there 2 hours before the gates even opened. We even got freebies along the way - sunscreen, muesli bars and, best of all, strawberries! One tradition out of the way before we'd even got inside.

The girls and I with our queue cards.

Once we got it, we tried to take a moment to get our bearings. The girls were in desperate need of a potty break (have to say bless teaching - ensures you can hold it for a REALLY long time!). The nearest toilets were beside the Wimbledon Shop, so naturally that's where we wandered. We all ended up buying the same cap, which made for some good photos.

Next up it was time to watch some tennis. We started on the nearest court to where we were standing, which was a boys singles game. Not a bad introduction to the tennis - got us in the mood for bigger games. We had bought ground passes, which allowed us to see any court except Centre Court, and Courts 1 and 2. This didn't really matter, as it was early enough in the Championship for high ranking players to be on outside courts.

We left the boys and headed over to Court 18 to see what was going on there. It's a bigger court, kind of the next step down from the 3 big ones. We had to wait for a change of ends and for seats to free up, but we waited, as it was Ai Sugiyama and Alisa Kleybanova (who lost in her next round to Venus Williams). It was Sugiyama's 16th Wimbledon in a row, so although she lost, we saw some amazing tennis. We hung around for the next match, which was Jurgen Meltzer and Arnaud Clement. Clement lost to Rainer Schuettler in an epic quarter final match the other day. It was blazing hot, and we were facing the sun, which didn't help matters. The girls gave up after the first set, but I rated it, so I stayed for the second.

Ai Sugiyama

Jurgen Meltzer

Arnaud Clement

I ended up leaving at the end of the second set, as it was just too damn hot. I never thought I'd say that in England! Just before I left, I looked across to the box where the players and supporters sit, and who should stand up but Alicia Molik. I was too slow trying to get my camera back out though, so no pics.

I caught up with the girls, who were watching a mens doubles game, and we headed over to the practice courts. We weren't quite sure who the players were there, but lets just say their groans were forced and fake. Totally wrong. From there we wandered back towards Court 18 so that I could see who'd one the match I'd been watching, but it was still going. We stopped for a bite to eat, and took a seat on Henman Hill (or Murray Mound as it's being called now), to watch the big screen. Andy Murray was playing Tommy Haas.

From there we stood around waiting to get back into Court 18. The Clement/Meltzer game finished, and we went in. We watched a mixed doubles game, followed by a women's doubles game. It's so quick!

After that, it was about 8.30pm, and we'd been sitting in the sun all day, so we made a move home. Finally, at 11.30, I was home and SO ready for bed! All in all, awesome day, awesome weather, awesome experience.

Mobility and independence!

Finally, FINALLY, I bought a car! It's a sexy little beast, as yet unnamed. I pick him up on Tuesday. This means that not only do I have the independence to do all those normal things that people do (like grocery shopping), but I can also go on weekend road trips and day trips to see more of the area where I live. Bring it on!

I'm a bit of a tard

Somehow, in gloating about having finished my update and sitting in the sunshine, I seem to have forgotten an entire trip. Another episode in the "Sarah is a tard" saga.

The day after my birthday BBQ, I went to Wales for the weekend, this time for someone else's birthday. Aunty Ann (my great aunt) turned 90, so the extended family got together for the afternoon. She was delighted to have everybody there, as that is what's most important to her. She also had a visit from the Mayor and Mayoress. Aunty Ann's cake was definitely better than mine!

I'm also posting a couple of photos to show you how green it is now that Summer has rolled around - bit different to the last time I was there, in the snow!

Back to the present

I now find myself up to date. Back to sitting around, soaking up the sunshine, killing ants, wondering if I'm getting sunburnt, not caring if I AM getting sunburnt, and wondering what else to do now, given that it's 4pm and I still have at least 5 hours of sunlight left.

The next trip was going to be Pamplona, Spain, to see the running of the bulls. I've decided in the end not to go, as it is only a week after I start my new job, and although they said that I could take the two days off, I don't really feel that it's the right thing to do. Doesn't worry me too much though, as there's always next year.

That leaves me thinking about what next, and I'm wondering still if the answer might be Ireland. Thanks to my new job starting in July, I'm now getting paid for Summer, instead of having to slog it out in a supermarket or pub. So Ireland, Scotland, maybe North Wales - who knows? I still want to go up to Yorkshire and look around up there, and see the other end of Hadrian's Wall (I saw one end of it on my trip to the Lake District). Of course, I could always go back up there now that it's a different season, as it will look completely different. And there's always plenty to do in London as well - Wimbledon is coming up, so is the cricket, and the usual tourist attractions are still there.

If only I was good at making decisions!!

The anniversary of one's birth

After Gloucestershire, I had a few days off, which coincided with my birthday. A birthday I'd tried very hard to once again ignore, but someone managed to find out all the same. The general consensus had been to go out for dinner, but I put my foot down on that and instead suggested a BBQ at my place. Great plan - apart from the fact that I didn't actually HAVE a BBQ.

A quick trip to Argos later, and I not only had a BBQ, I also had a filled gas bottle. I put it all together in the middle of my lounge room. Why didn't I do it outside, I hear you ask? Well, in typical British form, it was pouring rain. Honestly, it seems like if we go a day or two without rain, it gets made up for by constant rain for the next few days. Nevertheless, I got it all put together, defrosted some steak, and had the best dead cow I'd had in months.

When everyone arrived for the actual event a few days later, I warned them that this was a new BBQ, and that I wasn't necessarily going to do the best I could do until I got used to it (it also has a wire grill, instead of cast iron). Apparently though, if this was a rough go, I am to inform them all when I get it right, as it should be absolutely brilliant. Perhaps it's because the English aren't known for the "fire + meat = excellent" ways, but they were all thrilled. I was too - thought I might have lost my touch a little after so long without one!

One of the gifts that I received from my parents was money for a Nintendo wii. I finally bought one - best birthday present ever! If only my arms didn't ache so much from tennis and baseball...

Cheese Rolling Festival

Not a great deal happened between going to Paris and the Cheese Rolling Festival, a month later. Well, plenty happened, but nothing of real interest, and nothing travel-related. It all revolved around work, work, and more work. Work for a school that decided that I was good enough to run a staff in-service for, but not good enough to continue to employ. Bitter? Yes. But moving along.

The cheese rolling was... insane. It was cold. It was muddy. It was totally English. The basic premise is that you take a 70-80lb wheel of double gloucester cheese, chuck it down a really REALLY steep hill, and watch people go A-over-T trying to chase it and be the first down the hill, therefore winning the cheese. We spent the weekend in Cheltenham, driving over there on Saturday (with a not-very-brief stop at Ikea in Bristol), Sunday in Oxford and around the Cotswolds, and Monday at the festival before driving home.

I don't have pics of it, as I was on video duty, and I can't be bothered logging in to facebook to steal someone else's pics. Check out a few of the clips on youtube - totally insane!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpzEF0D2xfE

The sun is making me so lazy, I can't even be bothered writing the html to make that a proper link. Just click it, watch it, and build a bridge.

On a side note, the actual temps for that day were about 7 or 8 degrees. The rain and wind chill made it much worse. By the end, I was dry from the knees down thanks to my wellies, dry wherever my mac covered me, and wet and cold for the rest. So cold, in fact, that I couldn't bend my fingers at all. The things we do for a bit of entertainment!

Back to Paris

The next day, instead of going to Disney Studios with the others, Banana and I headed back into the city, intent on hiring bikes and seeing the sites that way. It was mad fun! The scariest moment was probably early on, whilst I was still building up a bit of confidence doing something that I hadn't done any time in the last decade. Paris has a lot of dedicated bike lanes, but as we approached the Louvre, that dedicated bike lane became a shared lane with buses and taxis. Hot fun. After that though, we cruised along through the park (until getting into trouble for riding there by some random guy with a whistle), and up towards the Champs Elysees and Arc de Triomphe. We got some great photos, and even some entertainment when we stopped to have a look at the map, and I dropped the bike (admittedly it was very heavy at the front, therefore not evenly weighted), and not only made some noise, but ripped the map and spilled the contents of my bag onto the pavement (think camera, mobile phone etc - all fun to drop). I'm a class act.

We then made our way through some of the back streets, along to the Paris Opera House. Next time, I'm going in! Finally, we headed back to the main tourist track, returned our bikes, and had an impromptu picnic on the grass, before heading back to cold England.