From the time we decided to go to England, it was always planned that we would do everything we could to get to Wimbledon. I knew that Greg would be thrilled to see it, but I have to admit, it was something that I really wanted to see as well. So after our morning bus tour around London, we decided to catch the Underground out to Wimbledon as it wasn't too far outside of the city. Casey wasn't feeling well so she decided to have a quiet afternoon in the hotel.
Greg, Larry and I boarded the train at Victoria Station and headed towards Wimbledon. We weren't quite sure which stop to get off at because there were 2 Wimbledon stops. Larry asked the man sitting next to him who was part of a large contingent of "football" (soccer) fans heading to a match. As we was trying to figure it out a very nice woman sitting across from us told us to get off at the station before the Wimbledon station and walk up the hill. We were amazed at how helpful the English were.
Anyways, the footballers all got of the train 2 stops before us and we got off and walked up the hill towards the complex. We arrived at the complex and headed into the gift shop where everyone gathers for a tour. The tour was slated for an hour later but we had the chance to go through the Tennis Museum. This was a really nice museum and very well thought out. Greg loved this part of it just as much as the actual tour of the complex.
Finally it was time for our tour and we ventured out into the cold, windy, rainy England afternoon. We didn't get to go into Centre Court as it is under construction - a roof is being added to the stadium. However, we did get to see most of the outer courts, the BBC media room, the player interview room, the locker rooms, and the players entrance. We also went inside one of the larger court stadiums. 
It was amazing to me to see the outer courts and how little room there is between the courts. It looked as if there was only room for one or maybe two rows of folding chairs. The picture with the 2008 on the grassy hill is what is affectionately called "Hinman's Hill" in honor of Tim Hinman, England's only chance to win a Wimbledon title in previous years. This is the hillside shown on tv where people take picnic lunches and watch the day's matches on the big jumbotron tv.
Another cool site was the row of tennis figures dressed as ancient chinese soldiers. The statues were really large and a very good representation of the players. We were told that the soldiers will be leaving this year and going to the actual player. There was Andy Roddick, Roger Federer, and more.
These pictures don't really show how cold it was, but it had to be about 40 degrees with driving wind and rain at times. After the last stop which was inside Court 2, we headed to the restaurant for steaming mugs of hot chocolate and chocolate muffins.
Following a quick snack we walked back to the train station to head back to the hotel. Two stops after getting on the train, all of the footballers joined us. The soccer match was over (they lost) and everyone was heading home.
We met up with Casey who enjoyed a quiet day of reading and resting. That night we had dinner at Big Uns. Casey and I had fish and chips. They were just okay. We would have better ones the next day at the Tower of London.
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