I was in the vicinity of two big London sporting events over the last two weeks... Wimbledon and the Tour de France. Wimbledon was a tube stop on the way home from a day at another work site in Feltham, a bit southwest of London. It was 30 minute walk to the walled tennis compound. I was surprised to see a world-famous tennis center right in the middle of a very nice residential neighborhood! It had rained on and off the entire day and when I got there (around 4:30 pm) everyone was streaming out. Payed £2 for a cab ride back to the tube station.
The whole family went down to London for the Tour de France prologue. My strongest impression from the day was that bike racing is probably better viewed live on a really nice TV at home. It was very crowded over the entire 8km course. Cory somehow managed to find a very nice spot in front of Buckingham palace. Although it required constant vigilance to keep people from sliding in front of us. One funny thing did happen while we were watching... There was a young Australian couple next to us and they had a big inflatable hand that they waved when the riders came through. Seems pretty normal. Near the end of the day a lady stormed up to him and said that he should not be waving that hand because it's probably scaring the riders! "Not to worry" he said, "They are professionals and they are really good at tuning out distractions." She seemed OK with that.
Just so you know, the kids' last day of school is Friday the 21st. I have actually enjoyed having more frequent, but shorter breaks throughout the year. I'm not sure what the kids will think when school starts in 6 weeks!
The first game of the Premiership football regular season is less than a month away!
-Dale
Blackpool is the UK's answer to Atlantic City and Wildwood, New Jersey. You take the M6 north passing between Liverpool and Manchester to get there.
