Wimbledon 2010

Getting the chance to be in London during not only the World Cup when the Brutish band together to cheer on their team (until they stop winning) has been a great experience, and the only thing that could maybe top that is getting to watch a British original the Wimbledon Championships.

Just a 40 minute tube ride and a 5 minute bus ride or 10 minute walk to the All England Club gets you to the site of the Wimbledon Championships.

From there as a 'non-ticket holder' you have to Queue for the right to purchase a ground pass.

Camron, his coworker Kim and myself went in the evening on Day 10 just after they left work. Ticket holders mind you receive their tickets the summer before after entering a lottery system. In the Queue you get a Queue Card and continue on to the ticket office. At a more popular time on a more popular day, you are likely to wait in this line for hours but we were lucky and

On to the gate entrance and to purchase our Grounds Only pass.

We explored the grounds, saw the beautiful flowers, the grass courts that are open seating and have smaller games going on. The hill where us groundlings can camp out and watch what's going on in the three main courts, Cantre, No1 and No2.

But we decided to try our luck at the ticket re-sell box and see if there were open seats to be had. When ticket holders leave for the day they'll turn their tickets in and the Wimbledon staff then re-sell them for 5 pounds and the money goes to charity. We got lucky with again no wait and tickets to Centre Court. We were in the second row with great view of the action!

And we got to watch the men's pairs quarter finals, the winners of this match actually went on to play for the men's pairs final, but sadly didn't win.

After the match was finished we learned we'd be lucky enough to see a second match, but first we had to take part in Wimbledon traditions from the food and drink stalls.
We skipped the champagne to save some money, but were happy to partake in another traditional drink Pimm's and Lemonade. And of course strawberries and creme!Back inside Centre court to see a Women's invitational game featuring Anna Kournikova and Martina Hingis.

These ladies were a joy to watch as you could tell they were having lots of fun. Over all a great experience and I'm glad we went!

The Queen's House (one of them at least...)

copyright: DAVID ILIFF , wikipedia

Windsor Castle is one of many principle residents of the Queen of England, but it's probably the one most frequently stayed in by her Majesty. It's just a short hour train ride outside of London and a great side trip if you have the time.

It's also the largest castle that's lived in today and the oldest part dates back to William the Conqueror.

The majority of the area you get to tour is the grounds and the State Apartments. Which are the entertaining areas of the castle when she has state dignitaries or balls she's hosting. Those areas are in the buildings in this picture. Unfortunately I couldn't take pictures inside for you!The round tower in the middle of the picture is the original part built of the castle and is on an artificial mound. By looking at the top of that tower you can see a flag.

And that flag will help you figure out if the Queen is home that day. This flag which is her standard indicates that she was there on our visit that day. If not the Union Jack will be flying.

I don't know why but I love all their lights with their fancy colors and decorations...I wonder if these would look good in front of our condo?Some of the beautiful gardens that are at the base of the round tower. The British certainly know how to garden!St. George's Chapel is also on the premises and is the main place of worship at the Castle. It's also home to the Order of the Garter which is the principle order of Knights for which people like Prince William, Margaret Thatcher and Winston Churchill have been or are members.

This is also the burial place for many royals, such as the current Queen's parents King George and the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother; King Henry VIII and one of his wives Jane Seymour among others.

Bath Times Two

Next stop in Bath was the Abbey, which was right next door to the Roman Baths. It's a 500 year old Gothic style church and has beautiful fan vaulting inside.

There are many interesting carvings on the outside. Take for example the two below, notice anything about the one on the left? That's Peter.

Did you notice that he's shorter than the guy on the right? He lost his head at some point.

Now look below at this picture, they re-carved his head out of the remainder of his beard...looks a little creepy to me! You can also see the large space that's open above his head. The next carvings are some angels coming down ladders on either side of the door.
Here's a closer look.

And the beautiful fan vaulted ceiling.

This church has a ton of great stained glass, but this was the only decent picture I got. These windows depict 52 scenes from Christ's life.

On to other interesting sights in Bath, are some that you might have seen in movies. The Royal Crescent, a large row of Georgian "condos" built in the late 18th century during Bath's heyday.

Then the Circus, another Georgian set of building, but in a circular shape around a courtyard.
And check out this crazy large tree in the middle of the Circus.

We inturupt this blog...

For World Cup MANIA!! So if you live under a rock or perhaps if your from the one country in the world who doesn't care about soccer (coughUSAcough), you might not know that the World Cup kicked off today at 3pm GMT (9am CST).

I on the other hand am fully immersed in a country that is going absolutely crazy over the World Cup right now among whispers that they have a chance to go all the way. Since the day we arrived we've been surrounded by St. George's Cross, better known at the flag of England. This week it looks like white and red has just been spread everywhere time 50!!

Here's proof...

This was the post office today...if you look closely just over the right shoulder of the man in front of me that's a TV playing the opening ceremony.
Our neighbors just across the street!
A restaurant just down the street from us...

They even have those silly car flags over here! I've seen these on scooters and motorcycles as well.

And these are just examples I took pictures of in a matter of an hour of walking around near our place today...it'll only get worse as the World Cup continues if England performs the way they should.

The first game for England is tomorrow versus the USA (eek) at 8:30pm GMT (2:30pm CST). I've been practicing my British accent, I don't want to be around if the US actually beats them! ;o)

And for your enjoyment, one of the many many commercials I'm tortured with every 10 minutes on TV.

Bath Time

Bath is a lovely town not too far by train or car to the West of London and makes a great side trip while your here. It has a long history as it has the only natural hot springs in all of Great Britain. And during the Roman occupation in the first century, they built the Roman Baths and temples on the springs to pay worship to Minerva, the goddess of the hot springs. The Baths became buried overtime and went unnoticed below the feet of the town until the 1600s.

Later in the 1700s after visits to the baths by aristocracy Bath became a fashionable spa town to live and visit in England and high society could be seen everywhere, and people once again . Our first stop though was the Roman Baths.
The first view you get upon entering the Roman Bath museum is the great pool that was the main part of the Roman Baths, it's green from algae and you definitely don't want to go into it. If you must have a dip in the natural hot springs, try the new Thermea Spa down the street.
These statues are a 'new' addition to the baths to pay tribute to the Roman emperors and generals and were erected in 1897 when the baths became the museum it is today. A view from the ground level.

Even local ducks enjoy a dip in the warm water.

Attached to the main bath is a museum dedicated to the remainder of the Roman site where you can learn about the temple that was once on place.

This is a nice look at Roman engineering and is the Spring overflow which leads to...

The drain, which sends the water all the way to the local river over 400 yards away. (sometimes so mind boggling to remember this was all built almost 2000 years ago!) The main areas of the square, and the door in the distance on your right is the old entrance.
A large source of the water
The remainder of a gold guild statue or Minerva found in the drain.

And the remains of the steam room. These pillars were below the floor, which allowed the warm steam to circulate below the floor heating it and the room, you must wear shoes on that hot floor! But massages and such were given in this room before getting into the bath.

Overall we spent at least a couple hours here, with the great audio guide that was provided with admission. Well worth the visit!

Look for another post coming up on other attractions in Bath. I didn't want to bore you to death with too much in one post!

Battle in England

An interesting and somewhat unplanned stop on our trip was the town of Battle, which is the place of the Battle of Hastings, which was the culmination of William the Conqueror's Norman invasion.

Battle is a cute older town that offers some great buildings, restaurants, and pubs.
But the main reason to stop is to see the ruins of Battle Abbey and the Battle of Hastings site.

It starts with a nice walk around the grounds to see the important parts of the attack and actual battle of William and King Herold.Don't you just love our lovely sneakers and the audio guides around our necks?!Their is currently a boys private school on the site... but originally it was just an open field after which the new King William asked an Abbey to be erected and this is what remains.. (one of the most famous castles William ordered built was the Tower of London)

The breadth of the battle field.
And Camron conquering the battle hill!

Cheers to my Parents!!

My parents are headed home today, they were here for two weeks and are to blame for my lack of posting and communitication. They dragged me around England the whole time. ;o)

It was a great experience and I saw more of England than I ever thought I would. I'm also anxious to share some of the places with you when I get my pictures uploaded...Edinburgh, the Lake District, Bath, Rye and Battle...this list goes on!

So in the mean time, here's to my parents, thanks for a great time and hope you arrive home safely.