wimbeldon - day 7

all time london to do: wimbeldon. shar, along with thousands of others, queued for tickets to wimbeldon on day 7 of the championship. the 4 hours seemed to fly. i must say the best queuing experience i've had and there's grass to sit on. i'm glad i got up at 4:30 though because i got front row seats on court 12, which feature jelena jankovic, jo-wilfried tsonga and robin soderling. i was there a solid 6 hours friends. yes, shar loves tennis (missed you henry).

strawberries and cream, anyone?

my fav - pimm's!
tommy robredo, practicing serves before his win in men's doubles
jelena arrives

jelena before she retired because injury

vera zvonavera
jo-wilfried tsonga

robin soderling

his fans in force

david ferrer

kim clijsters and xaxier malisse winning mixed double. this was after she had beatenher fellow country women justine henin.

henman hill

cardiff

best fundraising trip ever: cardiff for armed forces day. my pal jenny invited me out to help her fundraiser for help for heroes, a charity she climbed kilimanjaro for last year. it was a grand time. we made £400 on friday night before the big day's festivities. jenny was a 40's sailor gal and she was fab. look!

saturday, i was a sailor and jenny was an army pin-up gal. the men in uniform loved her. it was all good fun.

beanie and marco, our muscle

on our way to the parade, prince charles waved at us. i think he liked our outfits.

jenny blagged our way onto the hms kent.

i don't think they minded.

me and my crew at the terra nova

also there, i saluted a fellow sailor and he gave us this for our charitable efforts.

no joke, check me and jenny out

paul was awesome. two and half hours, plus two encores. nuff said.

tegan and sara at roundhouse

best belated gig: tegan and sara at roundhouse. so years ago shar missed a grand opportunity to see the quin sisters at the brava theater in sf. these twins were well worth the wait, and the roundhouse was the perfect venue to experience them for the first time.

tegan joked about her insecurities about her attire. she thought she was dressed a la justin bieber. she even did a hair flip. they went through the latest from their current album "alligator" and then the oldies but goodies. they played my favs "you wouldn't like me", "walking with the ghost" and "where does the good go".

encore included sweet acoustic versions of "dark come soon" and sara's contribution to dj tiesto's "back in your head". they were everything i was hoping for, from the rockin' power pop to the sisterly banter.

bilbao

totally worth the wait belated fltgc: guggenheim bilbao. shar's dreamed of setting foot upon the famed institution and today was the day. i planned my basque holiday around this venture. i saved it for last on my way out of the country back to jolly good england. popped by as it opened and flashed my gugg membership card (still have berlin and venice to hit, who's down?). the building itself is a marvel of architectural genius with nooks and crannies that unfold knew perspectives. whether overlooking the vast sculptures of richard serra to jenny holzer's floor to ceiling led panels, the building's unique structure highlights the pieces displayed. the gugg is notrious with their no pictures inside policy, but i snapped this of jenny's piece.

the special exhibit featured anish kapoor. i wasn't a fan of his new works of cement sculpture. looked like piles of poop to me. i did like the wax cannon though. also, the other exhibition featured french painter henri rousseau, who i hadn't heard much of and was happily introduced to. then, there are robert rauscheberg's gluts, which i was slightly familar with. his reuse of "trash" primarily from his home in texas really translates to the current waste filling the gulf of mexico.

bear reminds me of leo the lion at the art institute

anish kapoor

jeff koons' puppy

basque country: food, beaches, hemmingway

in no particular order

best bocadillo evah

gros, east side of san sebastian where the surfers flock

la concha
city center st. jean de luz

2 weeks too early for the running of the bulls. el corte inges is like the spanish macy's

mi amigo carlito and i brave the surf of st. jean de luz

all you can drink cider at petretegi in astigarraga

cod with roasted green peppers and carmelized onions goes well with cider

one of eduardo chillida's wind combs

note to self: read the sun also rises

wish surfed in gros. water was perfect and swells were decent.

gasteiz big band in vitoria

the best hosts - patti and fernando

kalimotxo = coke + red wine, recommended by my basque pal bero

view from a top of mt. urgall

shar dreams of you pintxos. i can eat you everyday.