Hello all!
I am writing you from the suburbs of London, near the O2 arena which will be the site of many Olympic events this year, specifically gymnastics. We came into the city from Coventry this weekend, mainly for Wimbledon. It has been raining cats and dogs since we got here.
Heading into Wimbledon, there was a bit of confusion about exactly what our program was going to cover. In the end, they purchased ground passes for us, and tickets into Centre Court, Court 1, Court 2 and Court 3 were up to us to purchase. Purchasing tickets for the last 4 days is tricky, as they release tickets on Ticketmaster the day beforehand at 9 AM, and it is first come first serve. So, I was able to get a ticket for the women's semi-finals on Centre Court! However, when I was trying to check out, I was getting a weird error with my credit card, so I had a friend of mine put it on his card.
We got to Wimbledon at roughly 10 on Thursday morning, and excited as could be! There was a group of roughly 20 of us that had Centre Court tickets. We got up to the gate however, and my ticket was denied! I had received a confirmation number and everything, yet still denied. When I asked what was going on, they told me that only 2 tickets could be purchased on each credit card, and my friend had already bought 2 tickets, and therefore mine was the 3rd and ultimately invalid. So, I waled back around to the main entrance and used my ground pass to get into the grounds. I tried to plead my case to the main ticket office, but they were unable to help me. I guess I learned a lesson to always read the fine print!
Walking around the grounds at Wimbledon was absolutely stunning. So beautiful, so much history, and so many courts! Just as we walked in, Andy Murray was practicing on court 9, so I headed over and checked it out - pretty cool! (Side note - the WiFi at my hotel is extremely slow, so I will upload pictures once I am back to Coventry) After we saw Murray, I ran into Dick Vitale. I got a picture with him, and tweeted him later that day saying thanks, and he tweeted back! Pretty cool guy (gotta love that voice!)
So, after I could not get in to Centre Court, I learned about a service they do at Wimbledon called "Ticket Resale". Essentially, after people leave their seat, you can buy their ticket at a discounted price, see the remaining action, and all the the money goes to charity. Serena's semi match was the second match of the day, so I was hoping that I would get in to that (those tickets went on sale at 3 PM - first come first serve). I waited in line for about 2 hours, although I was able to see the screen from "The Hill", so it was just fine. However, waiting in line did no good, as they only had 3 tickets by about 3:30 that afternoon.
I continued to wander about the grounds after I left the line, and found a great men's doubles match to watch on Court 4, so I watched that for about an hour. I was pretty bummed I didn't get in to Centre Court, but my roommate on the trip, Logan, was able to get me into Court 1 with his tickets for about a half a set, and I was able to walk around Centre Court for about 5 minutes with another friends ticket, so I still got to see both arenas! They are remarkable environments, and I was truly blessed to be at arguably the epicenter of tennis, Centre Court tickets or not. I would love the opportunity to go back some day, but I am so thankful that I was able to go in the first place!
Friday morning, we left the hotel early and went to class in downtown London, followed by a tour of our living facility that we will have once in London for the last weeks of our trip. All I have to say is WOW. It is a great facility in the heart of London with some remarkable views. I cannot wait! We were supposed to take the train to Manchester after class to take a stadium tour of Old Trafford (Manchester United Stadium) and see a cricket match, but there was an 80% chance the match was going to be rained out, and it with it being a 2.5 hour train ride, we decided to stay back. However, we are going to Manchester again, and hopefully will still do the stadium tour.
Now that we had an empty day, a large group of us decided to head over to Westminster Abbey, and am I SO glad I did. So much history in that building, and being a Catholic, it was just everything I could have asked for. We walked around the inside, and they have free audio tours, so once you are inside, they hand you essentially a tape recorder with info about all the sites inside. There are so many different historical figures buried there, from Kings to a shrine of Shakespeare. However, the pinnacle of this trip for me so far was today at 2 points. The first was standing at the grave of John the Baptist. Not go to too much into religious beliefs, but seeing a man who has truly epitomized living for God in this life and getting glory in the next was overwhelming. I stood at his grave for a few minutes, and it was just a unique experience that I will never forget.
The second event of today was being able to do a Laying on of Hands service in a small chapel inside the Abbey. I met with a young priest, and just to be in this tiny chapel talking about God where people have done so since the 12th Century was once again, overwhelming. After that, I was able to light a candle and say a prayer for my old friend, Fr. John Malley, O. Carm. He passed earlier this year, but it was still an honor to be able to do that today in memory of him!
After we walked outside the Abbey, I was just amazed at the architecture of the building. Knowing when it was built and the detail and perfection of the architecture, it was simply remarkable.
We are in London until Sunday, and then back to Coventry for the week, followed by Dublin next weekend! I can't wait for the weeks to come! I have been able to communicate with some of my family back home, but without WiFi on my phone, it makes it expensive. I am hoping to make some more calls back to the states once I get WiFi on my phone back. I miss everyone back home, and I cannot wait to see you all.
Until next time,
Ben
P.S. - Believe it or not, this was somewhat of the condensed version of Wimbledon and Westminster Abbey, but if you want to know more about anything, please email me! I would love to hear from anyone and everyone. bmalisewski@gmail.com
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