Despite the constant clouds and persistent rain that has Londoners reaching for their umbrellas over their sunglasses this summer, the charm of this city is unmatched. Upon landing, I discovered that I had seemingly stumbled upon the very best time to travel to London.
So far, I’ve had the opportunity to watch the Wimbledon Championships live, experience England playing in the European Football Championship and the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France are right around the corner (distance and time-wise). However, I’ll admit that any time, really, is the best time to visit and immerse yourself in the bustling British lifestyle.
Game, Set, Match
One of my biggest dreams was to watch a Wimbledon Championship match live from Centre Court. My family and I are generational watchers of Wimbledon, but always from a television screen across the Atlantic Ocean. When I realized that my London travels would coincide with week two of the championships, I knew I had to find any way to visit the grounds myself.
Unfortunately, tickets are given to the public through a ballot system a year in advance and resale tickets are sold for tens of thousands of pounds. That left option three, which was joining the famous Wimbledon Queue. However, this took some strategic planning. At 3:30 a.m. on a cold Wednesday morning, a friend and I made our way to the Wimbledon gates, 40 minutes away from the city center. We picked this time because it rained the previous night, trains are not in service this early in the morning and England was playing in the Euro semifinals later that afternoon. We figured all of these factors would deter large crowds away from the Wimbledon Queue.
Upon arriving, we waited in line for about four hours before we started moving into “The Queue Village,” which is where they served free coffee and had some photo areas. Then, at around 10 a.m., we moved to the Wimbledon grounds gate, where we secured third-row No. 1 Centre Court tickets and joined the resale virtual queue.
We explored the grounds and watched Coco Gauff play her doubles match on The Hill while enjoying some famous Wimbledon strawberries and cream. We also visited the Wimbledon Museum and bought some souvenirs. Then, we settled into our fantastic floor seats at No. 1 court to watch the Women’s and Men’s Singles Quarterfinals.
We were able to watch Barbora Krejcikova (the recent 2024 Wimbledon Champion) play and get her autograph at the end of the match. Finally, we secured Centre Court resale tickets at around 5 p.m. and finally got to watch an invitational doubles match on the magnificent, famous show court. It truly felt like living a dream and that day will forever hold a special place in my heart.
Seeing the Sights
I am currently a summer student at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), studying political economy. Classes are structured around daily three-hour lectures and one and a half hour seminar sessions. Therefore, it’s been important for me to try and pack as many adventures in between and after classes
To do this, I’ve grouped St. Paul’s Cathedral, Tate Modern Museum and Shakespeare’s Globe together. A different day of tourism consisted of visiting Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye and Tower Bridge. Yet another morning excursion took me through Green Park, to Buckingham Palace to watch the Changing of the Guard and then to Hyde Park to study and be back to campus for my afternoon lecture.
As you can imagine, this takes a lot of walking and utilizing public transportation. Thankfully, the London Underground, or the “Tube” as locals refer to it, functions as a well-oiled transportation machine making the city incredibly accessible. All-in-all, relying on walking and taking the Tube to local attractions has made my trip a good blend of tourist, student and local experiences.
Reflections
I am truly fortunate to be able to live this incredible experience in this remarkable city. I have my family, The University of Texas at Austin’s Education Abroad and Texas Global team and LSE to thank for the opportunity to enrich myself academically and culturally through this program. My adventures in London will continue on for the next few weeks, perhaps even taking me across borders on some weekend trips. However, I’ll always be excited to return to London. Cheers!
This post was contributed by Anika Damle, a Global Ambassador for Summer 2024. Anika is a sophomore neuroscience studies major studying abroad in London, England.
Leave a Reply