The Ultimate Wimbledon Experience

June 26, 2010 – Wimbledon

Wimbledon Day 2: I’ve always maintained that I’m the luckiest girl in the world — and Day #2 at Wimbledon proves it!

We were on our way to The Queue to take our position in line when heard the fateful announcement: The Queue wait was more than 11 hours long and the number of people in line had already exceeded the 6,000 available tickets. It was only 9:00 am.

Uh oh — We didn’t cross the pond for just one day at Wimbledon, did we? Thankfully no….because I my very own Wimbledon Fairy Godfather.

As fate would have it, sitting next to me on my flight from Dallas to Heathrow, was the head of the Pakistan Tennis Association. He was going to Wimbledon for a full 2 weeks of tennis as an official international delegate and invited little ‘ole me to be his guest.

Now, I was pretty busy when I got to London, but all of a sudden I got busy calling him from the Southfield tube stop.

Bullseye! The plan was to meet him at Gate 4 and he would see if he could score us some extra tickets.

So Tammy and I chilled out, had ourselves a latte, and sauntered to Gate 4 a couple of hours later.  We actually arrived about 45 minutes early because we wanted to be sure we didn’t miss Fairly Godfather with the golden tickets.

After a little wait, we had prized Court 2 tickets in hand. Clijsters here we come! Jancovic – nice to meet ya!  Williams sisters, we’re cheering for you. Whoo Hoo! Thank you Wimbledon Fairy Godfather!

Fairy Godfather, of course, had Center Court seats, but we were able to meet up again at 3:30 for a traditional Wimbledon tea, complete with strawberries and cream, smoked salmon, chicken salad finger sandwiches, scones and clotted cream.  I’ll have the Earl Grey, thanks!

It turned out to be a fantastic day, especially with a couple more Pimm’s + lemonade and a day of amazing tennis. Ahhhhh….spectacular seats!

But, oh no, Wimbledon Fairy Godfather wasn’t done. I was asked to accompany him to the Wimbledon Ball, a black-tie event, to be held that Saturday night at the exclusive Hurlington Club in the Fulham section of London.  

I believe if one is asked to go to the Wimbledon ball, one should go.

Of course, I didn’t have a formal gown, but a black-tie gala event was the perfect excuse for a little London shopping. I found a beautiful grey silk Grecian gown by a Japanese designer.  And soon to follow: strappy silver high heels, a sequined purse and feathered hair ornament.  I was set for the ball! (I had it way easier than Cinderella.)

Off I went in one of the official Wimbledon cars. And it was quite an affair. Nearly 700 tennis dignitaries from around the world gathered to honor former Wimbledon champion Virginia Wade.

Of course, I was more excited to see today’s reigning talent (read: Rafa!), but no current tennis luminaries were there. Darn.

We had cocktails on the outside patio (more Pimm’s!), followed by a dinner of lobster, duck and basil sherbet (sort of a strange combination, different courses, but still a tad odd).

Invitations to the Australian and French Opens followed, as well as an offer for a personalized tour of Pakistan. But for once in my life, the luckiest girl in the world decided not to push her luck.

Tags: Fairy Godfather, strawberries and cream, tennis, Wimbledon

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 14th, 2010 and is filed under Europe.