LONDON! Day 8: Wimbledon

Bright and early on Friday morning, we decided our first destination on our vacation would be Wimbledon. Now, my husband and I are not big fans of tennis but his Aunt Denise is! We were under strict orders from her to get an official Wimbledon towel by any means necessary or no more free babysitting (okay, it wasn't worded quite like that but the gist was clear). Lucky for us, the Tube goes right through the area. It took about 30 minutes on the Tube and then another 10 minutes of walking. But this was the kind of area we were walking through:

Not exactly a hard walk! I lost count of how many times I stumbled because I was gawking at the buildings instead of watching where I was going. And all these little townhouses have gardens out front!

Now, that is a good tradition! Wish Americans would do that.

Then we arrive!

I had to call Aunt Denise (as per her instructions). With the time difference, it was before 6 a.m. when I called and woke her up! Not sure she would remember the actual conversation, I took a picture of the phone next to the official symbols.

Now she can say she's been to Wimbledon! The complex was gearing up for the tennis tournament (which started this week) so there wasn't much they would let us see. Had to settle for pictures from a distance.

Official Wimbledon towel in hand, we rode a bus back into town, where one of the locals taught us some lingo. You don't "scan" your Oyster card...you "blip" it. Good to know!

"Jessica..." you may be thinking, "What is that?"

Well, dear reader, that is a pay potty. See, you slide your coins into the proper cut-out, receive your change (if necessary) and then the door will slide open to reveal a toilet (or loo for those of you playing along at home). I believe this one was 20 pence (40 cents), which isn't too bad. Neither of us had to go, so we just stood outside giggling instead. Also in town was a fantastic bakery that specialized in fondant and gum-paste decorated cakes. I really wanted to take pictures but thought that might be kinda tacky. So I just settled for pressing my face against the window and drooling over this woman's extraordinary talent. One small tiered cake, decorated with white gum-paste daisies had the price tag of 675 pounds. Whoa!

While waiting for the Tube train to arrive, it started to rain. Good thing I had my trusty umbrella! Since we had the rest of the afternoon, we decided our next stop would be Westminster Abbey.

TO BE CONTINUED....