Then I'll begin!
Once upon a time, there was an 18 year old, 400m hurdling Rozzie, studying for A-Levels and generally being a partying teenager. She'd watch the tennis if it was on, but that was about it!
One day ... Rozzie's mum announced at the dinner table, she was going to queue at Wimbledon (being a general tennis nut) and Rozzie's dad decreed the young Rozzie would have to go too, as he didn't want to let mum loose on her own around the unsuspecting Womble population... Rozzie kvetched a bit at this... and reluctantly gathered up her Letts revision notes, packed her kit bag and got a good night's kip!
And so we hauled ourselves to the local station and set off at the crack of dawn and joined THE QUEUE. Back in those days - people camping out were pretty rare - and maybe more tickets were available on the day for the show courts... but each successive year while I was at Uni, we'd do this... until we started to get tix in the ballot. That day ... we got tickets at the front for Court 2... and saw Chris Evert Lloyd, Sabatini, Capriati and I. Was. HOOKED!
Now... fast forward to a considerably older Rozzie, and the prospect of JJ on Court 3, (the old Court 2... paying attention at the back, are you??) ... and so I did my research (but not very well as it turns out!) and decided to drive to the nearest park to the Queue (where the tickets cost £25). Like I said - a couple of folks have commented on my qualification as a fan due to my usual sarky observations on her Royal Lipglossness - let me tell you... getting out of bed earlier than I would normally for work, on my damn vacation is plenty enough qualification ... ergo I will remain to be as critical of our Glittery GOAT as I like :p .
OK - so... with charged up Sat Nav - I scooted off.... and got to Gate 6... only to find it shut! Helpful AA man was there - apparently the Chelsea Tractor and sports car brigade were too busy grounding their expensive cars and so they were mending the back gate, so a bit of shameless Rozzie flirting to find out how the hell to get somewhere where I COULD park, a quick turn in the road and I turbo-dieseled my way over to the other gate.... drove ALL AROUND a damn golf course, only to end up right where I was initially when I arrived to pay!
By the time I did the walk back up the road and into Wimbledon Park, it was actually 6:30 and I could have parked THERE, for the same price. Pfft!
There were loads of people in tents at various Queue Stations watching this stream of people flooding in... but no time to stop and take a photo. yesterday my friend was position three thousand and something at 7am... I was 2092! Just goes to show how many people flock to that queue.
One of the good things is they get the crowd moving constantly... which makes you feel you're making progress!
Back in the "old days" I used to take homework... this time I opted for the PSP and watching (or in my case, listening, because the sunlight reflected off the screen) to The Da Vinci Code! It made the time fly past!!!
They also took us through the Rolf Harris "Art of Champions" exhibit which was a nice touch...
We were in by 10!!! They had security guards holding people back and they walked us forward a little at a time but basically I was at the top of the steps to the tea lawn with a load of people looking suspiciously like they had Court 3 on their mind!!! There was a MOUND of boisterous Aussies, because Dokic was first up on 14, I think, or maybe 11 - somewhere over there anyway... and of course Hewitt was now 3rd up on Court 3 after the Haas match to finish...
Next up.... JJ!
No comments:
Post a Comment