Wimbledon Videos

The first video is from court 11 and the second video is from Centre Court.  Enjoy!

The Queue

On Thursday we decided to tackle ‘The Queue‘ at Wimbledon.  The Queue is for non-ticket holders who want to experience Wimbledon.  You aren’t guaranteed entry but the chances of you getting in are pretty high.  We got to the queue around 10:00am and were in by 12:30pm.

Tips for the queue:

-Bring a book, magazine, newspaper

-Bring a towel to sit on

-Bring some snacks, drinks, & alcohol

-Bring an umbrella

-Bring cash. They don’t accept credit cards.

-Be patient.  It looks like chaos but it is very organized

We didn’t camp out but there were a ton of tents filled with people hoping to get centre court seats.

The queue is a fun experience and once you get into the grounds you realize it wasn’t as bad as you thought.

Next up…Inside Wimbledon!

American?

What makes this American Ginger Ale and not Ginger Ale?

Stunning

One word to describe Kate Middleton this morning:

(Source)

What do you think?

Climbing The Rock

You can read about our first day in Gibraltar here.

The best way to see all of the Rock of Gibraltar is to take the cable car up to the top and then explore it on foot.  At the base of the rock there are a ton of “tour guides/taxi drivers” trying to persuade you to take their tour for £70 but we did it all for £17.50 and was able to go at our own pace.

We took the cable car up the rock.

The view from the top was breath-taking.  You could see Gibraltar, La Linea, Algeciras and a bit of Morocco.

When we got off the cable car we were warned about the monkeys but we also read  this ahead of time:

Barbary Macaques (Apes)

Tourists should be aware that the Barbary macaques are wild animals and do bite. It is advisable not to feed the Barbary macaque, despite encouragement from irresponsible taxi drivers. It is illegal (hefty fines are in force) and bad for their health. Never try to pick up a baby Barbary macaque – its mother will not be happy, and neither will you. If you are bitten by a Barbary macaque, you will require hospital treatment, whilst the Barbary macaques are rabies-free they can infect you with hepatitis, they are most aggressive on the top of the rock, as the most successful animals claim the uppermost reaches of the rock, their less successful fellows being shoved down the rock and the social pecking order.

(source)

Clearly these Americans didn’t read the same article.

Other things to do on the rock are:

St. Michael’s Cave

Climbing stairs and walking miles:

Great Siege Tunnels:

The Moorish Castle:

Eventually you make it down the rock and are so tired you just sit in the square and devour chips with cheese, cheesy garlic bread and beer. Yummmm!

A great second day in Gibraltar! 

A Weekend In Gibraltar

I gave a hint to where we spent our weekend here and if you guessed Gibraltar then you were right!

We wanted to get away for the weekend and go to a plane neither of us have been to so we decided on Gibraltar.  Our hotel was in La Linea, Spain but it was a 10 minute walk to the border of Gibraltar so it was not difficult at all.  We just had to carry our Passports because we had to show them every time we crossed it.

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory so we heard lots of British accent and didn’t have to worry about currency since they accepted GBP.

We saw the rock as we were landing which got us really excited.

We quickly dropped our bags off at the hotel and headed back to Gibraltar to check out the town.

 

Trafalgar Cemetery

Gibraltar Botanic Gardens

Gibraltar Botanic Gardens

And then we ended our day with a drink (and Cuban cigar for Jon) in Casemates Square people watching and enjoying the beautiful weather.

Loving Gibraltar and the relaxed lifestyle.

Starbucks For Free

Did anyone else in the UK take advantage of the free coffee offer from Starbucks?

I did! 

I used my giftcard (which works in the US and UK) to purchase a tall iced coffee and received a full sized bag of coffee for FREE.  I was expecting a little sample size but nope….full size. =)

 

Speaking of Starbucks…What do you think of the new logo design?

I like it.  Change is good.

Yelp! Event: AvoHotel

Sara was invited to a Yelp! event on Monday and asked me to join her so we headed to Dalston to check out a new boutique hotel.

Avo Hotel is located on a main street but seemed to be in a residential area. It is family run and was actually the family’s house before they turned it into a hotel.  I love that the space has a story behind it.

The actual event was a lot of fun.  The food was all homemade and beyond delicious.

Pankora – fried bliss

Spicy peanuts which weren’t that spicy.

Beer & wine of course:

That’s Sunny….her family owns the hotel and used to live in the space!  They also cooked all the food which was so flavorful.

They were also offering mhendi which Sara and I signed up for it.

And the final product:

So beautiful!

Here is a tour of the hotel:

I love reading so I couldn’t stop looking at the titles they have.

The penthouse:

Brand new, modern bathrooms:

Very narrow stairs:

Overall, the event was so much fun.  We hung out, ate, drank and chatted with other Londoners.  Can’t wait for the next Yelp! event!

Exploring London

Wendy is a fellow expat living in Notting Hill and when I first moved here I emailed her about 53892058920352 questions and she was so helpful with every single one.  She really knew London and I trusted her recommendations.

It’s quite fitting that she has just started her own company called…….

London In A Day

It’s a private tour guide company that will show you London in 6 hours or less without getting lost, using  map or getting stressed.

Check out her blog as well as her company!

Museum of London

I saw this ad in various tube stations and wanted to check out the exhibit.

Sorry for the blurriness, it’s a blackberry photo.

Jon and I headed to the Museum of London Sunday afternoon for our first visit to this museum. I didn’t even check out the other exhibits on the website because I knew I was only interested in the London Street Photography exhibit.

We walked in to find out that the exhibit had a 1 hour wait and we didn’t have patience to wait around so we walked around the other exhibits which were really cool actually.

Specifically the Expanding City: 1666-1850s, People’s City 1850s-1940s & World City 1940s to Today permanent exhibits.

Expanding City: 1666-1850s

Lord Mayor’s Coach in 1757.

People’s City: 1850s-1940s

We took a stroll through a Victorian Walk.

A Fancy Stationer:

A Grocery store:

World City: 1950s–today

This section was the most fun. Interaction maps, artwork, fashion, etc

 

Interaction game and map:

Dr Martens of course:

 

Alternative Londoners

 

That was my little unorganized tour for you and if you liked this then I suggest you visit the museum yourself.  I’m also hoping to make it back for the photography exhibit eventually so you’ll see a post about that soon too.

All in all, it was a perfect rainy day activity.