Sarah: London, UK - Wimbledon and the rest!
London,
England,
United Kingdom
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Well, I've been waiting until we'd done london to send an email and of course, given london is one of the biggest and busiest and most famous cities in the world, it's gonna be a biggie! There was so much to do and only 6 days to do it in. We tried to fit two things in each day, but with all the commuting by foot, train and tube involved we sometimes only had the time and energy to do one.
The first night, coming back from the Cotswolds, we stayed a t a scummy hostel in a dodgy part of london, and got up at 5am to make it to Wimbledon. We were told if we got there reasonably early it wouldn't be too hard to get ground tickets. There are 500 tickets available every day for each of the stadium courts - centre court and court one - and 6000 ground tickets (all the other courts). If you want a chance of getting the big tickets, you have to camp overnight in the queue, and more than a thousand people do that each night. We even met some people (at the front of the queue obviously) who had turned up at 6am that morning to camp overnight for the NEXT day! So... after getting up at 5am and hauling our 30kg each of luggage through town, we arrived at the back of the queue at 7:40. We were given a queue card which told us we were numbers 3526 and 3527 in the queue, and don't try to jump it! After two hours of not moving - sitting on our newspapers, which came with free: binoculars (x1.5), sunscreen, and crap radio - and receiving free magazines (FHM with a very sexy Ana Ivanovic on the cover, and ACE with Brit favourite Andy Murray - we were finally on the move. So this was about 10 o'clock. We thought, yes, we must be on our way, nearly there. Well, we then had to walk in the line for an hour to even get to the front gate.
With our ground tickets we were allowed to court 2, where at this stage some of the better players were playing, but only standing room. The first match of the day, at midday, involved the 4th seed, Svetlana Kuznetsova, so quite a good match. After a set the rain came, so it was suspended for an hour. We were tired of standing (for basically 8 hours already) so headed off to find another court - with a seat. Unfortunately you had to queue even for this, so we watched Federer play on the big screen on Murray Mount (formerly Henman Hill). We then got a good look at the second half of a men's doubles match featuring the number one ranked and seeded pair, the Bryan brothers from the US. Doubles is really exciting and such a different game from singles - ray wasn't too keen initally but then he understood what i meant after watching a few points. The last match we saw was a mixed doubles (we really wanted to see a men's singles but didn't have time to queue) between the 5th and 6th ranked pairs in the world, one being a British pair. So we got to see a variety of events, of a good standard.
It was fantastic to be at Wimbledon. I have many memories of my brother and I being woken up by my tennis-loving dad in the middle of the night during the 80s and 90s to watch the Wimbledon finals. Sometimes i would tell him to leave me alone and let me get back to sleep, but often we would drag ourselves out, half-asleep and bleary-eyed, and watch Boris Becker, Ivan Llendal, (sorry Dad, can't 'member how to spell it) Stefan Edberg, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles and all the other greats of that era battling it out on the green and white.
The hallowed halls of tennis. The ivy-covered walls. Strawberries and cream. The drama and the passion. The rain. All the traditions of the oldest grand slam event in the tennis world. And I was there. If only I'd got to see a bit more tennis! Ah well. Incidentally, the only days it has rained at Wimbledon so far this year were one: the day we went, and two: the day we stayed home to watch it on telly! Mmm.
We had to leave Wimbledon about 6:30pm to make it to our couchsurfing host's house where she was cooking for us and a couple of other surfers! It took us two hours to get there and when we did we found a house full of people. Susannah was really lovely, and although she has never surfed herself she has people at her house most of the time. She said she gets about 10 requests a day. She has a flat in Streatham, one double room and two small rooms, but she fit herself, her boyfriend and 4 surfers in that night. There was an american guy there and an australian who had been there about a week. And the american guy had emailed her at 5pm that day to ask if his mate could come to stay as well. So Susannah cooked a meal for all five of us, plus her and her boyfriend. It was a very nice meal, and great to have such an international gathering. And to top it off - strawberries and cream for dessert.
From Susannah I learnt a disturbing fact about the upcoming Beijing Olympics. She is a keen fencer and involved at the national level, therefore she knows some of the fencers going to the Olympics. She informed us that all countries participating in the games have to get all their athletes to sign a contract. They cannot partake in any protests against the Chinese government, not only in China during the Olympics, but in their home country in the months leading up! Man that made me angry. I almost wish NZ wasn't going, given this fascist dictum, but that would ruin many athletes' dreams.
After a tiring day at the tennis, we wanted to do something that didn't require a lot of energy for our first day of sightseeing. We decided to use one of those hop-on, hop-off bus services. We rode around for a lot - often, it seemed, in circles - and got off to see Parliament Square, Whitehall, Big Ben and Buckingham Palace. That ticked a few things off the list. Big Ben is one BIG, GOLD clock! Parliament Square had statues of many famous English figures, and one of Nelson Mandela - whose 90th birthday celebrations, a charity auction and concert, happened in London while we were there. The statue of Winston Churchill was interesting for the fact that it was the only one, aside from Mandela, not covered in pigeon poo. Apparently, one of Churchill's last requests was that he not have a poop-covered statue erected in his honour in Parliament Square. Is request was honoured by the inclusion of an electric current that runs through the statue!
Day 3 we tried to go on the London Eye, but the queue was too long for our liking. Then we tried to go to see a show or do a tour at The Globe, but all the tickets to the play were sold and we missed the last tour of the day. So off to the Tower of London we went. Yes, The Tower, the words that for hundreds of years conjured fear in the hearts of all Britons (and many unfortunate foreigners too). That was pretty cool. The oldest part, the White Castle, was the first part put up by William the Conquerer after his victory in 1066. So it's pretty old! I love old stuff.
Walking across the bridge, over the now-dry moat - so wide and deep, you can imagine it being quite a deterrent to storming the castle. I love all that knights and soldiers and castles stuff! We walked past Traitors' Gate, where high-profile prisoners would be brought by boat in the cover of darkness, into the Bloody Tower, so-named for the supposed/assumed murder of the two child princes during the Wars of the Roses. To be standing amongst history like that was an awesome feeling. Elizabeth the First was held here in her younger days, before she was queen, by her half-sister, then-Queen Mary. One of the lucky ones to get out alive. In the Beauchamp Tower, where many important people were held, you can still see the graffiti carved into the walls - there are over forty examples of this medieval and renaissance vandalism, including one by the husband of Lady Jane Grey, Queen for nine days and beheaded at the age of 16. He wrote, simply, Jane. I saw the execution site of Anne Boleyn and later her sister Jane, made famous again recently by the book and movie The Other Boleyn Girl. There is now a rather poignant sculpture on the old execution site, a memorial to all those who had their lives violently taken from them. (Those executed here where the nobles, afforded a little privacy by their rank. I don't know if there is a monument to all the commoners who were hanged or beheaded on Tower Hill, across the road!)
Also in the Tower, and possibly, by a nose, the highlight of the day for me, was seeing the Crown Jewels. Yeah ha ha and all that. No, I mean THE actual Crown Jewels. You have to ride on a travelator past them. Well, I went past three times. They have not just the current ones, but several from throughout the last 500 years, including the beautiful Imperial Crown of India. The current staff-thing has been refitted to hold the Cullinan Diamond, the largest in the world at some ridiculous amount of carats. I tell you, these things are incredible. You can see why people catch "gold-fever!" Although for me it was more like diamond-sapphire-ruby-emerald- pearl AND gold fever. Especially diamond, they are a girl's best friend after all! The crowns, orbs and staffs were the most beautiful for me, but they also had on display all the royal "crockery." That is, gold: plates, cups, carafs, goblets, tankards, pitchers etc, and one ENORMOUS punch bowl, about half a meter in diameter, and yes, all gold.
Day 4, Monday, we finally did get on the London Eye, the largest Ferris wheel in the world. It is pretty impressive, I must say. Looking up at it from underneath, or even a few blocks away, it just towers over you, and the city. And yet, even though it's a modern construction in an old city, I think it is quite elegant. The pods are bigger than you expect and they put about 12 people in them. It was great to see all of London from so high, and at one point have a 360 degree view.
In the afternoon, we made it to The Globe. We got a tour so went inside the theatre and sat in the pews. We couldn't see all of the stage because they were installing the set for the upcoming play and the backdrop, balcony etc were covered up, to my disappointment. Still, got to go to arguably the most famous theatre in the world. It took basically 50 years to create. Once he had the idea, the American who started the process spent 20 years fundraising, 20 years planning and 10 years building it because they only used methods and materials that the Elizabethans would have used.
Our last full day in London we wanted to go to Westminster Abbey and the British Museum. For lunch, I met a friend from uni that I hadn't seen for about 7 years. It was great to catch up after such a long time. I had a couple of hours to fill in before lunch and was hoping to get to the London Dungeon or the London Bridge Experience, those places that aim to scare you senseless. I got into the queue for both, escorted to the Bridge Experience by the tallest man in England, a 7'2" guy named Ross with size 19 shoes who was an actor in the show. Unfortunately I didn't get time to do that but we have a couple more days in London before we fly out to Greece so I'm hoping to be scared lots then.
We'd rushed around all day but I wanted to go home to get dressed up for going to the theatre. You can't go to the theatre in your travel rags! I barely had time to have a shower and get changed (ok a little makeup) and rush out the door again. We were going to see Billy Elliot. We both love the movie and the musical has had great reviews. It did not disappoint. Although were right up high in the balcony it was a fantastic experience. The theatrics, the costumes, the singing, and oh! the dancing! Incroyable! So much energy and such incredible skill. I counted the pirouettes once and the boy did 21 IN A ROW. Now as someone who used to dance, I can appreciate how flamin' hard that is. The music is all composed by Elton John and it is world class. The music and the show was true to the film (which was true to the play) enough for it to be nicely familiar but different enough for you to feel like you're watching something new. I was a bit worried about seeing the story with different music, because I love the dance sequences in the film, but John has done a great job, and Lee Hall, the playwright, also wrote the lyrics, even though he'd never done that before. It was just a great night. The usual cliché - we laughed, cried, clapped, cheered and didn't want it to end. We were thrilled. When it finished, we wanted to see it again, and still do!
We also didn't make it to the British Museum but we did make it to Westminster Abbey. That was great: to go to the church where all monarchs of England have been crowned for the last thousand years, and of course scene of big events like the Charles and Diana wedding. I wasn't impressed that we had to pay 12 pounds each to get in (bout $30) and we weren't allowed to take photos. Stingy. However I got over it, kind of, and enjoyed, once again, being in the presence of history. I saw the tombs of many Kings and Queens of England from the last thousand years. I think the oldest was Edward I, around 1100ish...? They also have the coronation chair, used in every coronation since 1308. Yeah, it looks its age. Strong enough after 700 years though. Also saw the tombs of Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, can't remember who else from royalty apart from lots of Henrys and Edwards. There was Oliver Cromwell too, the regicidal puritan. Charles Darwin. And of course, Poets Corner. Started with Chaucer in 1400, includes the graves of 17 famous literary, musical and thespian figures, such as Tennyson (one of my favourites), Laurence Olivier, Frederick Handel... I felt in rather illustrious company! Hee hee. I write about all the famous connections with the Abbey, but the building itself is very impressive too, as you would expect from the most significant church in England. Its ornate ceiling is very high, it's spacious and elegant with many lovely little chapels surrounding the main altar. Covered in statues and plaques of course. The stained glass windows are spectacular, and my favourite was one of the more recent, dedicated to the RAF men of WWII. Underneath the centrepiece are painted the famous, poignant words: "We few, we lucky few, we band of brothers."
To celebrate our last night in London, we went to another musical. A classic: Les Miserables. I'd seen it in NZ before and I love it, but to see it in the West End would be great. Ray had not seen it before, so we chose it from the array of shows we wanted to see - Blood Brothers, Stomp, Sound of Music, Hairspray, Dirty Dancing, Grease, Chicago, Phantom of the Opera (yes, varied tastes). We are actually having, hopefully, two more nights in London and will probably not be able to resist going to two more shows! Of course, Les Mis lived up to its reputation, and showed why it is the longest running musical in the world. It was a definite contrast to the previous night: a very different style, but it's a beautiful, haunting story and the songs still move me deeply.
So our week in London came to an end. We were going to Oxford the next day and we were knackered. We'd planned to leave in the morning, and spend half a day exploring Oxford. However, we were so tired from touristing hard-out all week we just had no up-and-go. We blobbed around, sent another parcel home from the post-shop round the corner, and tried to watch some tennis. We didn't get on the train until 5pm!
