Mini Adventures June and July part 2

Shuttleworth WW1 Airshow

I had never been to an airshow before so being invited along to this one on the 5th July was an unexpected treat. I have to admit I came woefully unprepared,  however I was impressed by how much there is to see and do there.

One of the highlights was the Vulcan bomber making an appearance on its last tour.  I did not expect the sheer exhilaration of seeing that kind of aircraft up close.  It was fascinating.

Katrina over at Mum for Fun has written a guide to airshows for women, that would be worth checking out if you were ever to go to one: http://www.mumforfun.com/duxford-airshow-review/ She points out that there are a lot of other things to look at during airshows and I found that true of this one. Shuttleworth has a beautiful Swiss garden as well as a fascinating collection of old cars and airplanes, which we spent a little while strolling around. There was also plenty of food stalls, as well as stalls selling second books and bric a brac.

I have to admit I didn’t see a huge amount of the other planes, but the whole atmosphere was very enjoyable.

Wimbledon
I love Wimbledon. For someone like me, who adores tennis, it is my spiritual home. I’ve been lucky to go three times before and was delighted when I manage to win in the ballot and get tickets for seats on Court 1 on the Thursday of the second week.

The atmosphere was amazing when we arrived which was helped by the lovely weather. It is one thing seeing the All England Club on television but quite another when you see it in reality. It doesn’t matter how often I’ve been, I still get excited.

We got to see two mixed doubles quarter final matches as well as two Gentleman’s Invitational doubles. Martina Hingis and Leander Paes played third and Mike Bryan (one of the Bryan brothers) was also on court. However the highlight was the invitational doubles match between Ivan Ljubicic and Goran Ivanisevic vs Justin Gimmelstob and Ross Hutchins. Even though it was still a competition, the whole thing was played for laughs, especially with Ivanisevic goofing about and the players even getting the ball boys involved. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much at a tennis match!

Of course we finished off the entire day with some delicious Pimms and a bowl of strawberries and cream. I’ve got serious Wimbledon withdrawal symptoms now!