London, Day 11: Wimbledon

On Friday, a couple of us went to Wimbledon. Yes, that Wimbledon. It was a bit of a longer tube ride than normal. Interestingly, the Underground isn't exactly underground outside of central London. It was quite a pretty view, going through the suburbs. At any rate, we arrived at the Wimbledon tube stop. The way to the tennis courts was well-marked. It was a long, hilly walk. Most of London is flat. I guess even the hills have moved out to the suburbs.

We checked out the museums, which had a number of trophies, videos, uniforms, and artifacts from the early days of tennis and its predecessor games. However, I didn't find the museum that interesting. The tour, on the other hand, was quite cool. We got to see the huge arena where the big matches are played, as well as some of the less important courts, which we could get quite close to. We saw Henman Hill, built with the soil dug up during the construction of Court 1. It was gorgeous, with an arbor sort of structure at the top, a pond, and flowing water. The hill has a clear view of London (Big Ben and the London Eye are visible) as well as many of the courts. Spectators sit on this hill during the tournament and watch either the courts or a big screen TV. We saw the press room where the BBC broadcasts the tournament and even got to sit in the chair where the athletes sit to be interviewed.

It was odd to see the grass courts. I always think of the rubbery clay surface that most recreational courts seem to have. I would think that the ball wouldn't bounce all that well on grass. I guess that's why they keep it so short and care for it so meticulously. There's a staff of 16 people just to maintain the grass, plus even more during the tournament. If it rains, the court is covered and huge blowers dry the grass so that once the rain stops play can resume immediately. In addition to the grass, the grounds truly are beautiful, especially since they're preparing for the tournament next month. I guess we came at just the right time.

Wimbledon Village appears to be a very wealthy suburb. There are country-style homes with large gardens. Apparently, many people can afford to live there only because of the money they make during the tournament by selling things to spectators or renting out their apartments or homes to athletes and officials. Rental fees can net an owner of a large home £10,000 (about $20,000) per week.

After the tour, we bought some refreshments. So if you ask me whether I drank a lot on my birthday, the answer is yes: I had a entire (small) pot of tea. It was very good.