My Life on a Plate

Wimbledon Woes

Tickets to the Wimbledon Tennis tournament are difficult to acquire through the public ballot so I'm always pleased if I get any. Of course, you always take a risk regarding weather, seating and who you get to see play.

This year the first four days have gone to plan in very high temperatures. When we set off from here yesterday morning, thunder was rolling and rain pelting down but still far too hot to contemplate wearing a coat. The train to London arrived late, the tubes were packed and stuffy but we finally managed to climb four flights of stairs to see Hewitt win his match. The seats are so uncomfortable and close together you feel like a sardine and in the sultry heat of yesterday, a roasted one at that. After watching Rodick play a few games the heavens opened, the covers went up and we concluded from the look and sound of the sky there'd be no more play. So did thousands of others.

After waiting half an hour in torrential rain to board a bus to the tube station we were getting a little fraught. The bus was unbearably hot and moved at a snail's pace so eventually we dismounted and waited in the queue. The tubes made the seats at Wimbledon seem almost spacious by comparison, how they manage to hold so many bodies I do not know. It stopped and started all the way into the city and we finally managed to board our train home, wet, hot, achy and shattered. The air conditioning in our carriage had broken down, so we had to be moved. I fell into bed vowing I'll never apply for tickets again. In future I'll enjoy the tennis in the comforts of my own home where I can make a cuppa, have a smoke, take a toilet break and do something else if rain stops play. And it won't cost a fortune either!