January 1, 2011
This video is for all you American football fans, particularly Pittsburgh Steeler fans, who have a small itch for tennis and suffer from an occasional chocolate fit and are willing to travel anywhere even it it means dodging stampeding elephants to satisfy your cravings.
September 16, 2010
Rafa Nadal became the greatest tennis player in the world this summer and he proved it at the US Open on the Billie Jean King stage by completing the career grand slam in tennis, defeating Novak Djokovic in the final. I think some year he will complete the Grand Slam in the calendar year. We did not see him play at the Australian Open, Wimbledon, French Open or the US Open. We saw the transition of Federer to Nadal as the best in the sport. We saw Federer win the AO, get beat in the quarter final by Soderling at the French to stop his appearance run in the Grand Slam semi’s at 23, and get beat again in the quarters at (more…)
July 7, 2010
Nadal had his eye on one thing.
The ghost of Fred Perry haunted Murray.
S.Williams was ace supreme.
CLICK image -In "The Queue" with queue card and instruction booklet.
BUT THE REALLY BIG NEWS WAS………….
Our first full day in London was spent trying to secure tickets for Wimbledon with no luck. At noon, the tournament sold returned tickets on Ticketmaster. We tried getting returns for hours. Also at 8:30pm, 400 more tickets were released for the back row of Center Court. Many more hours on the website and no tickets. It looked like we would have to go to Wimbledon and wait in “The Queue”. The next day, arriving on the edge of the tournament grounds, we were greeted by overly-friendly Wimbledon stewards who directed us through a gate for non-ticket holders. A walkway led to a grassy field (more…)
July 4, 2010
Roland Garros is at the crossroads of Grand Slam tennis.
The train ride from Venice Italy to Paris France is 8 hours long with a 20 minute train transfer in Milan Italy. The only way to get to the train station in Venice, other than walking, is by water taxi. Riding in the canals was a fun experience, as was the train ride to Milan. But once in Milan, all the train seats faced forward, which must have confused everyone for no one could find their right seat or car. For about 20 minutes in our car it was musical chairs. Different languages were trying to settle seating disputes. Once we crossed the French border, the French National police asked everyone for their passports. At the next station stop, about 6 people were taken off the train…and taken somewhere.
Click image to see who belongs to this arm.
June 22, 2010
Wouldn't an evening in Paris by train be delightful.
Train travel in Europe is fun, efficient, and inexpensive with spectacular views. You may even encounter English speaking travelers sitting across from you. The ride is so smooth that when traveling through the dark tunnels you feel that the train has stopped. But if you never bought train tickets in Europe before, this is where the real adventure begins. We forgot to buy a Eurail pass before we left the US and found that a premium is paid if you buy one in Europe. It is further complicated because not all the combination options are available such as the France/Italy pass we wanted. Some of the 2 weeks in Barcelona were spent planning our 3 week trip to Paris (more…)
February 13, 2010
After being in Tokyo, Beijing and Bangkok, when arriving in Melbourne we seriously wondered where everyone was. No scooters or bikes to be seen anywhere and as matter of fact there where not many cars. We crossed the 6 lanes of roadway outside the train station and for the first time in 3 months we could cross the road other than at the intersection and we did not have to weave through traffic, because there was none. On the sidewalk no bikes, no scooters, no people. Our hotel was across the road from the train station, where in the other cities the train station was full of hustle and bustle and confusion, not here. After checking in we took the recommended means of (more…)
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