Day Four

My feet are sore!!

Not surprising when you work out that I've played 17 hours of tennis in four days. Mind you, I was reminded of home when I put my tennis socks on - they clearly bore the marks of having been one of the pairs of socks that Hari (my Brown Burmese cat) had taken to stealing from my suitcase in the days before we left.

And Judy has a new girlfriend....

Her name is Sophie..

She's five years old and has decided that Judy is the adult du jour...

I watched them this morning on the grass underneath the breakfast terrace playing a kind of football and catch with a supersized tennis ball. I'm not sure who was having the most fun! Sophie is tri-lingual. She speaks Swiss-German, German and English. She's an utter joy to watch as she skips around the hotel.

I think she is partly enamoured of Judy because Sophie collects coins and Judy has given her a full set of Australian coins. The 50cent piece has been a particular success.

Some of the other kids we see here are so formal - already in their suits and loafers - bored adult/kids...

Another five hours of tennis tomorrow, then the farewell dinner, then another 2.5 hours of tennis and the week is over. Roy has persuaded Judy to sing at tomorrow night's farewell dinner. It's been a little tricky working out what she'll sing given that most of her stuff is reasonably political and this is not exactly a left-leaning kind of group - but I know my girl and I know she'll knock their socks off!

I am having the last of my massages today - a facial treatment first (well I have been in the sun for a few days now) and then a hot stone massage. It's difficult to take but I'm managing.

Day Three

Well, it's really day two and a half - we only played this morning before heading off to a picnic in the Alps - tough eh!

I am pleasantly surprised that all my training has actually paid off. Despite spending five hours a day on the court, I am surprisingly unstiff.

Roy had me working my guts out yesterday - really getting me to run and make every possible attempt to get that damned yellow ball back. He asked me if it was ok to be pushing me like that - and my bravado said "Bring it on!"

We now have the draw for the first round. My first singles match is on the Monday (2nd August) at 9.30 with doubles at 2.00. Judy has also entered the Games and will play her doubles at 12.30 which is great because it means that I can be her cheer squad for a change.

Roy's promised me a bit of singles time which I'm looking forward to. The tennis pros he has here are simply fabulous. Roy's son Antony is particularly good - he has this wonderful graceful style in his own game and an air of quiet authority on the court. His feedback and corrections are both positive and really useful.

Only a few more days of "camp" and then we're off to Paris to play with our favourite four year old.

Day One of Tennis Camp

Forehands, backhands, volleys, a couple of doubles sets and...

I'm stuffed.

Well at least I'm not as stuffed as I was two years ago when I did this.  Basically it's five hours of tennis with one tennis pro to three participants which means you get a lot of attention and you get to run... a lot...

I am pleasantly surprised by the improved level of fitness - truly - I'm just a little bit sore in the legs but not too bad. I do have to confess to having a little sleep after the morning session though. The lovely Judy ran a hot bath for me at the end of the day - bliss.

Judy spent her day doing cryptic crosswords and working on the jigsaw puzzle we brought with us. Dunno which one of us is having the most fun.

Last night we had a welcome to the tennis week dinner and Judy and I sat with an older woman - Marion - who miraculously escaped the holocaust. She was arrested as a 14 year old returning to Berlin from boarding school in England in 1938 - charged with moving money out of Germany. She was required to attend a police station where the officer did two remarkable things - he gave her passport back and told her to get back to England as fast as she could and then said to her mother (who had been arrested on Krystallnacht) "Leave this country - leave now". And they did - to Shanghai where they were safe until the communist revolution and again her family escaped but this time to America.

I wonder what happened to the police officer - did he survive? Did he help others escape?

On a much less serious note:

At dinner tonight there was a three piece combo playing cocktail lounge classics - made me thing of our friend Tricia who thought the words were "On the bus and leaning over" instead of "Blame it on the Bosonova".

Another five hours of tennis tomorrow - and a massage at the end of it. I think I can manage that.

Starting to get serious...

Last night we went to the opera. Ho hum, I hear you say. Wrooooong. The physical theatre is one thing - red, gold leaf, rising tiers of opera boxes, ushers in black uniforms with bronze medallions around their necks.

And then the  conductor comes into the orchestra pit - oh God - he's very young, and I don't recognise the names of any of the singers. Have I hyped this up too much in my mind?

And then the overture begins and there is nothing but subtle, precise, beautiful strings and an achingly,piercingly haunting oboe - oh yeah.

We're here to see The Barber of Seville - a romantic comedy/farce. I don't have the words for the music but if you ever get an opportunity to hear Joyce DiDonato (Rosina) or Lawrence Brownlee (Count Almaviva) - run to the ticket office as fast as you can. These are musical athletes - not just technically sound but with profound control, perfect timbre.

And the staging was subtle but spot on...

But I digress because the real reason we are in Europe is to play tennis. So it's off to Gstaad for pre-tournament fine-tuning.

We had to change trains in Montreux. So there we were just sitting in our seats and a Swiss woman walks by and yes - it's Ursula - who runs marathons and who is the partner of the woman (Michelle) who beat Judy in the tennis at the Chicago Games. Yes, they're coming to Cologne but no, not playing tennis - just (just!) run the marathon. 

We are here now at the Gstaad Palace Hotel where I will shortly start a 6 day week of intensive tennis training with Roy Emerson and his team of professional coaches.

A relaxing dinner tonight (and a glass of champagne just because I could) and a relatively light day tomorrow. Down to the village to pick up supplies - I don't pay $15 for Heineken if I can help it! A swim and a workout to get the kinks out of the body and then a cocktail reception. Training starts for real on Sunday,

This will be the first real test of my fitness - let's see how that holds up although I have to confess to whinging a bit about having a sore right big toe. Judy, ever solicitous of my well-being, has suggested that it might be gout. I refuse to have gout - and that's final. It's just something else - minor and all will be well in the morning - right??

And so it begins....

First stop - Milan. Hmm, what can I say about Milan? If you are into serious label shopping then this is most definitely the place for you. And let's just say that shopping for anything other than size micro is almost impossible.

On the other hand, it's just a 2.5 hour train trip to Venice - Judy's favourite city. So that's where we've been - off to Venezia for lunch.

Tomorrow is a lazy day - we are going to La Scala to see The Barber of Seville but given how hot and humid it is at the moment - it's unlikely we will do anything more vigorous than walking to the theatre,

On Friday I start getting into serious preparation for the tennis - that's when we catch the train to Gstaad where I spend 6 days and a total of 25 hours on the tennis court.