Wimbledon - People's Sunday

Only the third time this has had to happen in Wimbledon's 118 year history. I was lucky enough to get a ticket into centre court, after getting up at 4.30am and lining up for about 3 hours yesterday morning. Saturday was a complete washout, the most irritating day ever! But we were rewarded yesterday, more than making up for seeing no play at all on the Saturday. We did see the Olympic Torch however, the first 2 bearers being Sir Roger Bannister and Tim Henman.

Yesterday I saw Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Tim Henman, Phillipoussis (the Aussie fans were fantastic), Todd Woodbridge, Conchita Martinez, Jonas Bjorkman, John McEnroe, Cliff Richards (!?)...

I now know why everyone loves this event, it is simply magical and there is a wonderful atmosphere, even in the rain :)

posted by Kaz 6:29 PM  

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Cycling in the Cotswolds...

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The Lake District

Liverpool...

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Euro 2004 Started this week...

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Joined the weekly football match with the guys at work :)

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Cinque Terre

5 Villages along Northern Italian Coast

The best long weekend trip so far...the sun, wonderful food (seafood, wine, and those tomatoes are amazingly juicy, sweet and so flavoursome on bruscetta/pizza! the gelato...), the 7 hour trek taking us through cinque terre and bright coloured world heritage listed houses on steep cliffs, the turqoiuse clear mediterranean for swimming and kayaking in the gentle waves, lazing on the big pebble beaches...i even met an artist who showed me her exhibition...the happy, friendly and animated italians, the crazy company...what more could you ask for? sigh...

Milan (our own version of amazing race, shopping gallery and gelato!)

Pisa (I climbed the leaning tower...scary!)

Must elaborate on this entry!

posted by Kaz 6:32 PM  

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Leeds Castle...

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Brighton...

posted by Kaz 6:31 PM  

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I see Red

I saw a major part of English culture today as we went to Highbury and saw The Gunners complete their unbeaten record in the Premiership. They won the match against Leicester City 2-1, which watched at The Arsenal Tavern near the stadium. It was quite an experience feeling the building rocking as fans jumped up and down in celebration and sang all their songs. It was loud, there was beer everywhere (including my hair!) and every seemed to be in a megahug all swaying as one.

Then we saw the Arsenal ladies complete the double (winning the FA cup and Premiership - a feat not even the men completed), by winning against Fulham today. We got to see them for free inside Highbury stadium!!! I have a new favourite team now, the Arsenal women were awesome. Most of them looked really young. The crowd seemed to treat the match no differently than a men's match, giving critical commentary and appreciation for their game. They won 2-1 and received a standing ovation and and even bows from the crowd. It was a bend it like beckham moment when they celebrated their victory by joining hands, running at us in a line and dropping at the last moment to slide on their stomachs towards us. Apparently some of them have day jobs and don't get that much for playing football, which makes me admire them even more.

I had no expectations from the match, but they played with so much skill, finesse, determination and fitness. I was hooked from the moment I saw no. 3 Julie Fleeting plant a magnificent header towards the goal but missing by a few inches. It was such an exciting match. Nobody seemed to want to leave and the players lapped it up as we cheered them to the sounds of Queen's We are the champions and Tina Arena's Simply the Best. The fans were revelling in their team's success.

So I learnt some songs today and it was great to see all the happy people enjoying the gorgeous day - beautiful spring sunshine in 20 deg heat. I didn't think I'd enjoy myself quite as much as I did! It was interesting to see that the stadium is nestled right in the middle of a London suburb, with nearby houses creating makeshift stalls. It was so old and I loved it, even the entrance was simply a residential apartment with The Arsenal Football Club written on it's facade (I saw a lady peeking her head out of her window and white lace curtains) It harked back to a simple era and reminded me of my visit to The Wrigley baseball stadium in Chigago.

Tomorrow we're going to the victory parade at Islington so we can see the champions going down the street in their open topped double decker buses. I'll be going to cheer on the Arsenal ladies :)

posted by Kaz 9:49 AM  

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Sydney

It was such a whirlwind trip...

posted by Kaz 8:18 AM  

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