New York Traveler.net

Where in the World is Wimbledon?

This is another post in my continuing “Where in the World” series! This time, we go across The Pond to the jolly UK!

Wimbledon is an ancient suburb of London, in the United Kingdom. I am fascinated with British history. I’ve read dozens of biographies on British monarchs, studied various ancient communities of the British isles (Skara Brae, for one), and have even traced my own genealogy to Eleanor of Aquitaine and her sons.

Wimbledon is most famous for its tennis championships held there. Did you know that the Wimbledon Championships have been held in that city for over a hundred years? The tradition of the sport and of the city are so interesting!

Wimbledon has been inhabited probably since the Iron Age. It was the location of a large manor and was owned by many people; first privately, then the church owned it, then the crown took possession of it sometime around 1398, until after Elizabeth I (she gave it away and it was sold). The invention of modern transportation made the little manor lot into a large village, attracting wealthy merchants. It’s proximity to the heart of London gave it great advantage.

But Wimbledon is known most for it’s famous tennis championship held every year. The first tennis tournament was held in 1877. It wasn’t until the 1920’s that the tournament really got worldwide attention.

I used to watch the Wimbledon championships on television as a young girl. I’d seen the old movie “Little Mo,” about Maureen Connolly, the first woman to win the Grand Slam of Tennis (the championships in Wimbledon, Australia, France, and the U.S.). She was 18 years old! My brothers and I watched the televised Wimbledon Championships during the Billie Jean King days. It was spectacular to watch these power-tennis players contort their arms and legs to smack that tennis ball across the court. It would be quite the thrilling experience to watch such a tournament live. Wimbledon tennis tickets are high-demand items, and it’s no wonder!

Did you know that there are strict etiquette requirements for the Wimbledon games? Many of these requirements have loosened the past five years or so.

The All England Club requires players to wear “almost entirely white” clothing during matches.

Players always bowed or curtsied to the Royal Family seated in the Royal Box upon entering or leaving the Court. This changed in 2003, and bows/curtsies are required only if the Monarch and/or Prince of Wales is attending.

Female players were always addressed with “Ms.” or “Mrs.” and their names on the boards were always in their formal married names. There were no such regulations for the male players.

Strawberries and cream is the traditional snack at Wimbledon.

The first color television broadcast in the UK was of the Wimbledon Championships, on the BBC.

Much like our “Star Wars” movies, fans will line up and stay overnight to get the few precious free tickets into Wimbledon.

(source Wikipedia: The Championships, Wimbeldon)

Other interesting trivia about Wimbledon:

Wimbledon was one of the cities where Martians landed in H.G. Wells novel “The War of the Worlds.”

William Wilberforce, that hero of abolition and much-beloved of my kids, was born in Wimbledon.

Wimbledon, like the rest of the cities of the British Isles, is filled with history and interesting facts! Now you know all about Wimbledon! Tennis, anyone?

Where in the World is Pretoria?

This is another one of my new “series” in this blog– a post about some other place in the world that interests me or a place I’d heard of and makes me curious to know more. You, dear reader, get to experience the information I discover! What a deal!

I have come across a few bloggers from South Africa recently. There aren’t too many, which is not surprising. When I think of Africa, I think of wild scrubby savannas full of ranging animals, of tribal leaders in bright red togas running around with spears. Obviously, I have been very influenced by television. :-p

In high school, we had a foreign exchange student in our school for a year. His name was Mauritz, and he was from Pretoria, if I remember correctly. He was Dutch and spoke Afrikaans and English. He was very fair but ruddy. And he wore khaki shirts all the time! It was my first experience with a South African native.

Pretoria is a city in the province of Gauteng. It is one of Gauteng’s three capital cities (their executive, legislative, and judicial capitals are separate). Pretoria is quite a booming city. It has manufacturing businesses, and is a leading academic city. It is a very modern city. People from all over the world take flights to South Africa (people but not me, *sigh*) to see the amazing fossil collection at the Transvaal Museum. I was surprised to read that Pretoria has a zoo. I just figured perhaps you stepped outside and saw all the elephants and tigers… but Pretoria has a beautiful zoo, known as the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa. Now, I’d sure love to see the gardens! Who knew South Africa could be so cosmopolitan and so intriguing. I really need to get out more, lol…

Where in the World is Tenerife?

There’s a lot of buzz, for some reason, about the ancient islands of Atlantis these days. When I was a kid, all those “unsolved” mysteries were very appealing– Loch Ness monster, Big Foot, and Atlantis, among other things. I’ve looked into Atlantis a little, and the best two ancient locations for this sunken city was either Santorini of Greece, or the islands of Tenerife.

I had never heard of Tenerife, and (as is my style), I looked it up. Mmmm what a beautiful place! Tenerife is the largest of the Canary Islands off the coast of Spain.

I’d love to see the beaches there. Isn’t that just beautiful? Tenerife is actually one of the biggest tourist spot in the world. I’d never even heard of it before. There are more flights to Tenerife by vacationing UK citizens than any other country, although that doesn’t count all the people from Spain who flock to those gorgeous beaches. Mmm.

The Romans gave Tenerife its name (meaning “snow”). Legends says that its snowy peaks are all that remain of the sunken paradise that was Atlantis. I don’t know if that is true or not, but I’ll bet it brings the tourists! It was on Tenerife that British admiral Horatio Nelson lost his arm, in the 1797 quest to take the islands.

Tenerife has suffered earthquakes from time to time, as has most of that area for millenia. It is a beautiful place and no wonder it is one of the number one tourist spots in the world. Perhaps when we finally get to see Greece, I will check out Tenerife, too!