Week 2: Day of Dreams

If Megan hadn't been on this trip, I don't know what I would have done. We had connected once I was formally accepted, since she realized that I was going to be living in her co-op next school year. We had mutual friends and mutual interests, and our friendship was cemented after our adventure in Boston together, as the two last group members to arrive in London. We had such a bond that we ended up spending most of our time together, exploring the city. For our first full weekend, we decided to tackle an ambitious itinerary and see certain iconic things, since we had missed out on our first free weekend due to our travel disaster. Her friend ( a boy with whom I had had a class with in the fall -- small world! ) had just arrived for his own study abroad, so we included him in our plans. Since it was July 7th, I knew that Wimbledon was on its final day, so I suggested that as our starting point. I had played tennis all throughout high school, and multiple friends ( who also played ) had commented to me about how jealous they were that I was in England while Wimbledon was going on. I had to go! 

The two things that my companions wanted to see both related to classic rock in London. Josh wanted to see the location of Pink Floyd's album cover of their tenth album, Animals, which was a power station on the Thames, and since Megan is such a Beatles fan, she wanted to walk across Abbey Road. We decided that the most efficient sequence would be to start at Wimbledon, then journey north to the Thames, and from there end at Abbey Road, which was conveniently by where Josh's study abroad group was staying. After our day was done, we got dinner at a restaurant down the street from Josh's flat, and I must say, I was really grateful that our group had been placed where we were. For one thing, it was a beautiful area, and really close to a shopping center, as well as the Charles Dickens' Museum. Kilburn Park, on the other hand, seemed to be really sketchy. Their program leaders had even told them, when they dropped them off at their new flats, to try to not advertise the fact that they were American whenever they were around that area. 

Though they did have this sweet poster thing! Yay, George Orwell!

The trip to Wimbledon was a long one, since we started off by Russel Square, which is in the north east of London. By contrast, Wimbledon is extreme south west. Our Oyster Cards ( how we paid for transportation on the London Underground, though it also worked for the buses and DLR ) had to be topped up with a couple pounds to get us there, since our program only covered travel through zones 1 and 2 ( which just means that I had free transportation in central London throughout my stay. It was pretty great to not have worry about paying for transportation! ), and Wimbledon was in Zone 3. Since there are six zones, it really wasn't that far, but it was certainly the furthest we had ever ventured out. The best part about it was meeting a father and his college age children, who were also on their way to Wimbledon, and just so happened to be from North Carolina! It's incredible how many different people you can meet in London. We swapped college years and majors, of course, and it felt just like being back home in the States. They had initially made contact with us to ask which stop would be best to get off at for Wimbledon, and after finding out that that's where we were heading as well, we made idle chitchat as the District line carried us south. Once we exited the tube station, it became very clear that it was the right stop: there were signs for Wimbledon everywhere, and information on walking to Wimbledon. It was about a half hour walk, but the town of Wimbledon is incredibly picturesque, so the time flew by. 

I have pictures of the Wimbledon arena, but honestly, I won't even bother putting them up. They don't even come close to doing it justice. 

An overhead map might, though! Yeah, it had a "heritage trail" that wrapped around it. It was so large that we didn't even make it around the whole thing. We found a place where a loudspeaker was broadcasting the commentary of the match, and I heard as the announcer said that Murray was two sets up. In the tennis world, Murray is kind of a running joke, because he always manages to get close, but never actually wins. How surprising, then, that he was up on Djokovic! Usually, tennis matches are best of three sets, but Men's Singles and Doubles at Wimbledon are best of five. That meant, if Murray won the current set, he would win the entire thing! ( I'm sorry for anyone reading this who doesn't follow tennis. Tennis scoring is stupidly complicated. Love-15-30-40? C'mon. Did they just pick those numbers at random? ) The most exciting consequence of this, of course, was that Murray is Scottish, and if he won, he would be the first British winner of Wimbledon since 1936! Nevermind the fact that I was in England this summer. All of my experiences dwarf in comparison ( this is exaggerated, of course, but to my inner tennis fanatic, it's true ) to the fact that I was in Wimbledon when a Brit won the title. How many Americans can say that ( besides my companions and those nice folks from North Carolina )?! It's an incredible feeling to know that you were present for what will be recorded as a historically significant event ( it's not an exaggeration to me that this experience trumped being in England when the royal baby was born, if that gives you any clue to my character//values ). Also, since we were in Wimbledon when it was announced that Murray won, we witnessed the uproar in the few establishments still open on a Sunday. 

This place was packed with people, all focused on that little television in the corner, watching Murray. And yes, I am that creepy that I took a picture through the open air window of this restaurant . . . It was a moment of history! Also, they had little tennis balls hanging everywhere. How could I not take a picture?

I'm sure, if either of my two friends were writing this blog right now, a lot less attention would be focused on Wimbledon. But it's me, and I love tennis. The whole trip, I pined for my racquet and a chance to play, and was tormented all six weeks with the fact that my window overlooked a tennis court. On nice days ( of which there were many ), I could hear people playing below. Tennis has been an enormous part of my life, as I played all four years of high school, and a lot of my most significant relationships have come from a mutual love of the sport. It may sound corny to say, but high school sports have definitely played a chief role in molding my character, both even mentally and physically. I hope that my pictures of Wimbledon allowed my tennis friends to live vicariously through me, and experience such an inspirational moment.

We left Wimbledon, giddy and elated to have witnessed something so incredible, and continued on to the Battersea Power Station with aching feet. Unfortunately, that area was crowded with construction, but we still managed to snap a lot of quality photographs of the structure. Abbey Road was last, and I knew Megan was antsy to get on our way, since daylight only lasted so long. Having never really been a Beatles fan, I wasn't too impacted by visiting the studio, but it made me happy to see how Megan reacted to it, and to help her try to get a picture walking across Abbey Road. Apparently, they have a live stream set up to watch people attempt to recreate the iconic album cover on such a busy road. I'd hate to have to use that road for any part of my commute! It took a couple tries, but I hope the shot that Megan got was satisfactory. Afterwards, we set off in search of food, feeling incredibly proud of ourselves. It was a monumental day for all of us, and we had managed to accomplish everything! Productivity is a great feeling.