Happy Remembrance (Armistice) Day! I'm wearing a red poppy on my lapel; it is the thing to do. At 11am, the city literally stops for two minutes of silences...buses stop, the tube (subway) trains stop, etc. I was mid-tour at Wimbledon and we stopped for the 2 minutes. Well all of us except for 2 people who didn't seem to notice that everyone else was quiet and standing still until about a minute into it. I can't remember where they were from; there were about 15-20 in the tour group, including people from Germany, Argentina, Japan, UK, US, and a couple more I'm forgetting. The token annoying person was a woman from American, but more on her later.

Prepare to learn more than you ever wanted/neede to know about Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Club! I almost blew this off, and I'm so glad I didn't. The club is about 10-15 miles outside of the city and in very nice area. There was also a pretty good museum that I blew through because I thought I was going to be tight on time today.

Wimbledon: 20 practice courts and 22 game course (or vice versa) and a few indoor courts. 18 full time groundskeepers that doubles to 36 during the tournament. All this for a couple months of tennis...at most. The club is a private club of 500 members, and it appears the easiest way to become a member is to win a single's championship! The tour guide said the list of member is private; she doen't know who they are. And we were threatened within an inch of our lives if we photographed any members we might have seen playing today (we didn't see any.) Members can play on the indoor courts year round and the outdoor courts in July and August...and only on some of the outdoor courts. Center Court, Court #1-4...those are only used for the two weeks of the tournament. So you have this gorgeous facility with beautiful grounds, and it is essenially a ghost town for 50 weeks of the year (except for the museum and tour groups.)

Grass details (this is mostly for my father): exactly 8mm in height, rye grass. mowed 3x a week in spring and summer, daily during the tournament (all 42 courts). And THAT means they redo the lines on all 42 courts every day during the tournament! The sod is pulled up every fall and redone.

There were some 'other courts' that were holding a kids clinic...trying to get another British great out of the next generation. And yes, Andy Murray's name and gold medal came up a few times during the tour.

While it was all really cool, it also gave me the icky feeling that comes along with seeing SO much money being poured into something that is barely used while there are starving children in the world. Let's assume the 500 bizillionaire members give generously to charity.

After Wimbledon, I witnessed another example of excess...I went to Hampton Court Palace, the home of Henry VIII. (if the name rings a bell, it was featured a lot in the Olympics.) The castle was a few miles further out of the city in another beautiful town. Rick Steves only gave the palace one star, and I probably should have listened to him. However, I had never seen a real palace, and Henry VIII was nothing if not fascinating. It was OK, and the gardens were really nice (even this late in the season, but I don't think I learned much that I didn't already know. As far as palaces go, I'm guessing Verailles is goign to blow Hampton Court out of the water....

perfect weather (by my standards) today: 50's and sunny all day.

It is 5:30pm local time, and I am going strong; I think the jet lag has finally worn off and/or my body has adjusted to the new time zone. I'm plan to spend the rest of the night reading the Sunday paper and going out to dinner. I walked by a sign advertising English roast tonight, and it is calling my name. For the last two days I've seen Beef Stew advertised as the daily special, and both times it was sold out by the time I ordered. Tonight I get some roast!

And in today's edition of "The British are so nice"...remember the annoying Americal on the tennis tour? The tour guide is pointing out the city skyline in the distance and giving us all the details on the new bulding that opens in the spring and will be the tallest building in London. Actually, the tallest in Europe, but only th 43 (or 45th) tallest building in the world. AFter all that, annoying woman actually asked "which one is it?" Again, absolutely no sarcasm as the brit says "the tall one."

Tentative plan for tomorrow: Tower of London (which includes the crown jewels), St. Pauls Cathedral, and hopefully a show in the evening. Depending on how long all that takes, I may also throw in the British Library (I love a good library) or Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (a replica, of course.)