Last Day in London

Went back to Wimbledon again today (gee, life’s tough over here) and saw a variety of matches, including girls’ & boys’ singles, men’s doubles and men’s singles. Had a lovely lunch again in the Member’s Area. After exhausting ourselves with excess decadence, we left the hallowed grounds and had a curry dinner in the nearby town of Wimbledon. It’s going to be one long slog of a holiday if the rest of the days are going to be as tough as today…..

Entrance tol the AELTC

A rare sunny day at Wimbledon

Surrey Sights

Am : Explored the town of Kingston before boarding a small ferry to take us down the Thames River via Teddington Lock to Richmond – a delightful and picturesque cruise. Had a lovely lunch at the White Swan Hotel in Richmond – a traditional English pub atmosphere.

Pm : Strolled around Richmond and then caught the train back to Kingston for Sue to partake of some retail therapy (she was getting withdrawal symptoms). Caught the train to Putney where cousin Frances picked us up and took us back to the family home in Valonia Gardens where we had dinner with her and husband Stefan and Gerry’s Aunt & Uncle – Erica and Henry Federer. Spent the evening watching their grandson play at Wimbledon.

No sign of "him" nor his famous salmon dish

A selection of breads at the Kingston markets

A quaint pub with excellent service and food

Gerry with his cousin, Frances

London & Wimbledon

Wednesday : We finally arrived in London after 3 attempted take-offs from Singapore, with only one actually successful - computer malfunction on the A380! Met up with Gerry's cousin Frances at Kingston and had lunch with her. Then into the city which was absolutely packed with tourists and shoppers. Had a very flash dinner at Nopi Restaurant in Soho and then walked to the Cambridge Theatre and saw "Matilda, the Musical". Fabulous acting, singing and production. Had trouble leaving Soho at 10.00 pm as the place was packed with people eating and drinking at restaurants and bars. Finally got back to the hotel in Kingston at 11.30 pm.

Thursday : Had a light breakfast at the local coffee house in Kingston and caught the train to Wimbledon Station and shuttle bus to the tennis. Had a fabulous day with great seats under cover on Centre Court - saw Serena Williams, Andy Murray and finally saw the upset of the tournament when Rafael Nadal got beaten in 5 sets, ending after almost 4 hours play, under lights and a closed roof at 10.00 pm. Had a fabulous lunch in the members' area as well as afternoon tea (strawberries & cream) and dinner there as well. Cliff Richard was also enjoying it on the table next to us. Gave the champers a miss because even Sue couldn't swallow the $27 a glass price tag. Caught the shuttle bus and train back to Kingston.

Lunch in the Wimbledon Members' Lounge

Strawberries & cream (what else?)





Singapore - Day 2

This morning, Gerry went and visited a construction site where they are building a tunnel under the mouth of the river, while Sue met up with the wife of a business acquaintance for a coffee and browsed the shops; no damage done as she is trying to keep space in her bag for France and Italy.

Checked out of hotel, had lunch and went for a ride on the Singapore Flyer, the largest ferris wheel in the world. Fantastic views. Check out photos of wheel on Google. Then had the obligatory Singapore Sling at the Raffles, followed by a great meal at a local Halal food diner (two extremes of the culture cycle). Picked up bags from hotel and made way to Changi Airport for flight to London.

Singapore

After sneaking out from home like thieves in the night on Sunday night, our holiday started with a midnight flight from Perth to Singapore. We spent the day recovering from our loss of sleep on the flight and had a great meal of Chicken Rice, sugar cane juice and soya bean curd at the Maxwell Food Centre in Chinatown. Total cost A$13.70. This evening, we had a great dinner with fabulous views from the top of the 57 storey Marina Bay Sands hotel complex. We found the locals very helpful, everything is clean and works and it is very safe here.

D-Day Minus 17 Days

With just 17 days to go before we set off on our adventurous trip to Europe, we are into countdown mode :

• The itinerary is complete, apart from some last minute fine tuning
• Travel insurance in place
• Plenty of SD cards for the camera
• All our surgical issues behind us

We are as excited as a couple of 15 month olds...........