DAY 4–Sunday, June 28  

Popcorn makes a good movie better

I slept in Sunday morning afternoon, then went shopping in Wimbledon Village. It’s fun to see the European hair clips and jewelry and clothes designs, which are so different from what we get in the U.S. Some things seem like such a bargain–until you translate pounds into dollars. 

I spent the rest of the afternoon at the Odeon Theatre watching TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE FALLEN, which was better than the first Transformers movie, in that it focused more on the people. I was offered a choice of “sweet” or “salty” popcorn. The sweet is what we would call caramel corn. I finally figured out that the way you tell the good Transformers from the bad Transformers is the good guys have blue eyes and the bad guys’ eyes are red. Sheesh.

The theatre was the first air conditioning I’ve experienced since I came to the UK. I thought I’d brought a sweater, but hadn’t. However, I was wearing a dress with a slip attached, so I was able to just pull the dress part up over my shoulders to survive the chill.

I had dinner at a restaurant called Coal–Indian curry again. I think I could eat curry every day the rest of my life. Just love it! I also went to the grocery store to shop–for fresh blackberries, raspberries and cherries–and got some Pimm’s #1 so I can make a Pimm’s for everyone when I get home, along with a bottle of Robinsons, so you can see what that tastes like. I also got some milk, (they don’t have half & half here–just carnation milk from a can for cream), several bottles of water, some bread and curried chicken for sandwiches, brazil nuts, clotted cream and biscuits (to have with tea), and two kinds of cookies.

Now imagine me carrying all my purchases from the “mall,” in town, my groceries, and oh, yes, I found a thriller author I like in Liz’s bookshelf, Simon Kerchik (or something like that). I read his novel RELENTLESS and liked it so much I bought all the rest of his backlist (4 novels) in town, along with another copy of RELENTLESS to replace Liz’s because I broke the spine reading it. So I also have five books in tow. AND I’ve got an umbrella and purse full of “necessary” things that I left home with.

I’m now carrying three large plastic bags in each hand (by the way, you’re encouraged to carry stuff out without a bag, so you’re always asked if you want one), including two large alcohol-size bottles, a quart of milk, two large Evian water bottles and all the other stuff I’ve bought. I have to get from the grocery store to the bus stop and then from the bus stop back to Liz’s house with all my purchases.

This is why Europeans are thin–and why they only buy one day’s groceries at a time. I’m used to shopping once a week and filling my entire trunk. In this case, I had to carry everything I bought. But I’m pretty good at taking the bus back and forth to Liz’s house and she’s barely a half block from the nearest stop. It’s a good thing I’m getting a fair amount of walking in, because I’m not denying myself dessert.

It’s true that everything happens when you’re out of the country. I got an e-mail from my son, who moved to Seattle only two weeks ago, that he was headed for the emergency room with gall stones. Here I am, 10 hours’ time difference and a continent away. Frustrating to want to be there and to be here. I’m happy to report that the stones have been removed and he’s no longer jaundiced. He may or may not get his gall bladder removed in the next couple of days, but is doing fine.

DAY 5–Monday, June 29

I had to decide whether to get up at 6:00 a.m. to queue for Wimbledon or whether to stay in bed till 7:30 and queue by 9:00. I decided I needed the sleep and finally reached the queue at 9:15. I was number 9247 in line (yes, number nine thousand forty-seven; last Thursday afternoon, I was number 28,000). I met another great bunch of people, three young guys–Ashley, in law school, Peter, currently unemployed, and Scott, a factory manager. Peter quizzed me for information on “how you know a girl is attracted to you.” That was a tough one. All I could tell him is that I know within thirty seconds if I’m attracted to a man–or whether he’s attracted to me. Whether that attraction lasts, or develops into a relationship, is a whole different matter. We got to the stadium and bought our ground’s tickets at about 12:30 and the first matches weren’t scheduled to start until 1:00.

Today I wanted to see some actual tennis (rather than watch on the big screen at Murray Mount), so I headed to Court 4 to watch Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) (9) play Sabine Lisicki (GER), who’d beaten Kuznetzova. I actually ended up slipping into a seat right at the edge of the court, but we were crowded and hot. I like Wozniacki and wanted her to win, but Lisicki has a really great serve that Wozniacki couldn’t return, and a slice that only comes six inches off the ground.

I’d brought lunch, and settled myself in a cool place (the benches around Court 1, where it’s shady and you can watch the action on Court 1 on indoor TVs) to eat. After lunch, I spent some time watching the Venus Williams vs. Ana Ivanovic match on the big screen at a picnic table with a school teacher, a physical therapist and a forensic scientist from Surrey. Ana had to retire because of injuries in the second set.

I headed for the line where you can buy tickets that have been turned in and discovered it was BLOCKS long! It was already late, and I was woeful that I wasn’t going to get to see Lleyton Hewitt play on Court 2. A man sitting on the grass heard me and offered me his 50£ ticket in the first row center!

It took me quite a while to get to Court 2, and when I did, I had to wait for three games to finish so I could be seated. I’d just sat down–with Lleyton down two sets to love, but up 3-0 games in the third–when there was a rain delay! I got a chance to see the court caretakers in action. They’re fast.  

Robinsons in the Queue

By the way, I have immense respect, admiration and awe for the ball boys and girls. The ones who hand balls to the players stand with their feet apart, hands behind their back without moving for HOURS. When a ball is needed, they hold one straight up in the air and wait until the player asks for it or decides not to receive it. The kids who collect the balls at the net, are perched on the ground on one knee, with their other leg bent behind them, and their hands flat on the ground. When they collect balls, they need to run across the court and sit back down again, and may or may not stop and step around the net to roll the ball to the ball boys and girls standing at the back of the court. In between games, they all have to roll the balls from the back of the court, through the kneeling ball boys and girls to the standing ball boys and girls at the other end. It works like a Swiss watch–very effective, very efficient, very quiet and, well, dignified (compare to undignified FANATICS, below).  

The rain delay was short–just long enough for me to get my first strawberries and cream at Wimbledon. I swear the fruit in England is sweeter than our fruit in Ameria. The strawberries were to die for.

When we got back to our seats in Court 2, I realized I was across the aisle from two rows of 10–about 20–FANATICS wearing yellow and green shirts and cheering wildly and loudly for Lleyton Hewitt. They totally unnerved Radek Stepanek, who was playing Hewitt. During the warmup after the rain delay, every time Hewitt hit the ball all twenty would grunt — UUUHH– and when Stepanik hit the ball, they would make a sound like a little girl– oooooo—. So you had this UUUUUH, oooooo, UUUUUH, oooooo, UUUUUU, ooooo. They clapped and shouted and jumped up every time Lleyton won a point, until the Honorary Steward came down and told them to “Sit down!” Of course, he was more of a distraction than they were, insisting on sitting on the step right beside me, and the crowd boooed him.

I heard him tell the Australians, “This behavior just isn’t posh!” Well. For the next two minutes, the Australians mimicked “proper” British behavior, and British accents. Holding their hands up to clap politely and saying, “Maaahhhvellous, Lleyton.” and “Jolly good, Llleyton.”

Of course, this set the Honorary Steward on fire. He called in the army. Which made the Hewitt crowd in Court 2 angry. Suddenly, from all over the stadium people were shouting , “Go, mate!” and “You can do it, Lleyton.” And whistling and shouting and clapping for Hewitt to show their support of the Fanatics (me included).

The steward finally left and the FANATICS went on cheering during breaks, doing loud chants like “We’ll be here for five!” They never shut up, they never quit–and they roused the crowd (great to be part of it!) to support Hewitt–until Hewitt finally won the match in five sets. It was exciting and energizing and fun, because Hewitt came over to the crowd (right next to me) after the match to thank them for their support. There was an article in the paper this morning mentioning how the FANATICS had roused Hewitt to win. That was tremendous fun!

When the Hewitt match was over, I headed to Murray Mount to watch Andy Murray’s match with Stan Wawrinka. The grassy hill overflowed with a mass of people. I finally found a place to sit up high, but on an angle of the hill. The grass is slick and I had to plant one foot with my knee bent, which put my whole weight on that knee, to watch the match. I watched the first set with the crowd in the cool evening, then took the bus back home (around 8:00 p.m.) because Veronica and I were going to dinner in Tooting.

However, we got caught up watching the match on the telly and it didn’t end until 10:30, when Andy finally won in five sets. Really exciting! Needless to say, we never got to Tooting. We’ll try again tomorrow.

DAY 6–Tuesday, June 30

I got two early morning calls from my son Blake, telling me he’s in good shape, which was a relief. Still no word if he’ll get his gall bladder removed. I’m heading to Wimbledon today where I have tickets for Centre Court for the Women’s Quarterfinals matches. I’ll be seeing Serena Williams play Azarenka, and one other women’s match, I think, and then some men’s doubles. Veronica and I are going to try again to get to Tooting for some Indian food tonight. Wish us luck!