Supergran's visit to Wimbledon for the Final.

Friday 6th July: The semi-final finished, Andy had won and I was ecstatic! Suddenly I wanted to be there for the Final and was wondering how I could manage it. I posted on Facebook "I want to go to Wimbledon". A few minutes later received a message from my daughter-in-law telling me to get a train on Saturday and I could stay in her hotel room. She and her daughter had No 1 court tickets for Saturday and were staying in an hotel in Wimbledon Friday and Saturday. With that, I got a little excited and decided to phone Supergramps to tell him my plan. He was on his usual Friday night visit to the pub watching SuperLeague rugby so knew he would be in a good mood!;) As I was speaking to him I could hear comments and laughter. He told me that the lads knew why I was ringing!!! He agreed with my arrangements and I told him he had earned more brownie points than Federer had points! Sarah then said she would book my train so armed with all my info she did that. So there I was on Friday evening with the 19.12 Virgin train to Euston on Saturday evening booked and preparing to queue from early Sunday morning. I was so excited even though I was recovering from a bug which had laid me low earlier in the week. I was going to watch Andy play in his first Wimbledon Final and I was going to cheer him to the skies.
:grass2::wimbrolly::strawberry:

Look forward to the next part, Supergran. :thumbup: :thanks:

Saturday 7th July: I packed a very small bag which included two Team Murray t-shirts and the pink Team Murray shirt for Anna. Then I received a phone call from Sarah telling me she had persuaded her mother to travel down also. So in my bag went another Andy t-shirt for Ethel. Our trains were arriving within minutes of each other and Sarah and Anna had said they would come and meet us at Euston. Each of us had said it wasn't necessary but they insisted. I'ts a caring thing....When our children are growing we always think they need looking after and when the parents get older they think we need looking after which, of course, is rather lovely and we did appreciate it. So Supergramps and I made our way to Wigan for me to catch the train. Sarah had texted me the reference number so that I could collect my ticket at the station. As I was using my old phone the text was very small and I'd had to ask SG to read it for me and then I wrote it down. I put in my card and typed the number.....it wasn't recognised! I tried again substituting a 1 for an l with the same result. There was nobody manning the ticket office and I was beginning to panic slightly. Just then I spotted a young man coming into the station and I asked him if he could read the text. Bless him, he typed in the number and again it was wrong. He tried again changing some digits and lo and behold my tickets were there. It was the ls and the 1s next to a b which caused the problem. 20 20 vision must be a wonderful thing!! The journey was uneventful and no-one came to check my tickets at all!! I met Ethel and we then waited for Sarah and Anna. It was absolutely pouring with rain in London. When we all met up we decided to get a taxi. It cost us £60 which between four of us was fine as we were dropped off outside our hotel. When we got to the bedroom which had a double bed and a sofa we were all laughing as the sleeping arrangements were bound to be a little cramped. We went downstairs and Sarah and Anna ordered a meal as they had been on Centre Court from about 3 0'clock. They had watched Marray and Neilsen win the Doubles and Serena and Venus playing also. They had had a fantastic day. Sarah had her photograph taken with Richard Williams, had seen other sporting celebrities and had paid £21 for a bottle of wine!!:shocked: We had drinks and then they said they were going to leave at 1.30 to go and queue!! It was still pouring and I felt awful for them. You see, I didn't have to queue!
:big grin::wimbly::strawberry:

A little digression: On Saturday morning logged on to Facebook and am I glad I did. There was a private message for me from a young woman who had sent me a Friend request only three weeks earlier. She told me she had a spare ticket for No 1 Court and asked if I would like it. I rang Sarah and she told me to accept it as it would mean that I didn't have to queue in the rain. So I sent a message back and the ticket was mine. She said we could meet at Wimbledon station as she was coming in on the train and was booked into an hotel for Sunday night. To our surprise and delight she was actually staying in the same hotel! Coincidence, fate, karma....call it what you will. She told me that she had seen my post saying I wanted to go and knowing that I was an ardent Andy supporter decided to offer the ticket to me rather than sell it at Wimbledon. I was so happy and grateful and thought it was really rather wonderful of her to have chosen me to have the ticket. We arranged to meet in the foyer at around 10.30 and I was really looking forward to meeting her and thanking her in person.
:wimbly::wimbrolly:

I await the next instalment with bated breath!!! You always tell a good story.
:yak:

Could I have a small request---could you have more paragraphs as it makes it easier for me to read with my funny eyes!!
:shades:

:bravo:

I've been waiting for this!! I sooo hoped you would do a blog SG because they are always so entertaining! Looking forward to the next instalment .....

Sunday 8th July: After a good night's sleep with the bedroom and bathroom all mine I went down for breakfast. I had the works: fruit juice, followed by fruit and cereal and then a full English topped off with toast and marmalade and two cups of coffee. Did think about the others and wondered what they were eating. It was still pouring with rain and I was so glad that I hadn't queued. I was prepared to but really relieved that I hadn't.:yikes::rain: Then went back upstairs and gathered my belongs together. I was wearing a long-sleeved white t-shirt with my blue Team Murray shirt over, a blue jacket and a hooded rain jacket. I went to Reception to pay for my breakfast and the girl told me I needed to pay the bill for the room. Now I distinctly remember Sarah going to settle her bill at about 1.15 a.m before they left and telling me everything had been paid for and I just needed to buy my breakfast. This, I told the Receptionist but she insisted the bill hadn't been paid. I insisted that the bill had been paid by my daughter-in-law and did I need to speak to the Manager. Whereupon a few more clicks on her computer and she said that it had been paid. I looked at her and waited....the penny dropped and she apologised! I then told her things like that shouldn't happen and she agreed. Well, she would have to, wouldn't she? I paid for my breakfast and sat down to wait for my friend and the ticket.:wimbly::grass2:

Those of you who know me are well aware that I will talk to anyone.:lol: I struck up a conversation with a couple who had been to the tennis for three days and were on their way home to Northern Ireland. They were a lovely couple and very interested in my support for Andy and said that though they were great Federer:facepalm:fans they did hope Murray would win. The man told me that for many years he had Debenture seats and we chatted about that for a while. He wouldn't tell me how much he'd paid but said it had been a good investment because when he wasn't using them he was paid when others used his tickets. Then Suzi arrived. We hugged and she chatted to the couple for a while and then went to check in. We exchanged the ticket and cash and discussed what we were going to do. I told her that I wanted to buy a bottle of wine as Sarah had paid £21 on Saturday.:wino::wino: Now I am not mean, I like good wine, I belong to a wine club,but I do hate being ripped off!!:grrr: So off we went to find a supermarket. We chatted as we walked and discovered that she had been to the Davis Cup at Wimbledon....:grass:her first visit to a tennis match and that she had met people from the Andy Murray Forum. I laughed and said "I'm supergran." She burst out laughing too and told me she was Suzi on the old forum. I think she has joined this one but she hasn't posted. I could be wrong. She told me that Sally had introduced her to a member who had looked after her for the three days and that she had gone to meet Judy with you all. From chatting to Judy and telling her she knew nothing about tennis she had joined the LTA and now was very lucky in getting tickets for Queen's and Wimbledon. :thumbup: I got the ticket because her friend who she met at the DC couldn't come from Portugal for the Final.

ha ha - a small world, isn't it! I must admit when you said it was "Suzi", I thought to myself that we used to have a Suzi on the forum!!!

Thanks SG! Looking forward to more.

Good to hear news of Suzy. Her friend from Portugal would be Wendy, who was so good at pick'em.