Musings

Tennis, Motorsport…and Vertigo!

by mydustyflipflops

Well, what a summer it has been so far! It seems to have passed me by somewhat.

I wrote in my last post how I was probably going to be absent from my blog and the blogging world in general for a while, whilst I dealt with a busy time at work and enjoyed a rather fun and packed week of events.

However, my hiatus from my blog has been a little longer than anticipated.

I had a few days off in July to start my ‘week of fun’! A week that saw me off to Wimbledon, then to spend a night in London to see the comedian Jerry Seinfeld do his thing and then winging it up to Silverstone to watch the British Formula 1 Grand Prix.

All big events for me, particularly the F1 which I had wanted to go to for ages.

Needless to say they were all brilliant!

To Start With…Wimbledon!

I spent a day on the new number 1 court at Wimbledon, watching the men battle it out for a place in the semi-finals.  Seeing Nadal is always the icing on the cake and whilst I was very tired that day, I enjoyed another fun-filled day at Wimbers!

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Watching the Men’s Quarterfinals on No.1 court at Wimbledon

Off To See A Comedy Legend…Jerry Seinfeld!

Next was a day of rest, and then I was back down to London for a more relaxed stay in a hotel in Hammersmith for a night.  I had bought tickets for us to go and see Jerry Seinfeld who was playing at the Apollo – it was my partner’s birthday present and an opportunity that I couldn’t miss, as Jerry is one of his comedy heroes!

I have of course seen the TV show Seinfeld, but it wasn’t something that was particularly on my radar and I could take it or leave it.  So I wasn’t sure what to expect of the show…

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Seeing a comedy legend at the Apollo

Well, I was blown away, he was brilliant, I haven’t laughed so much at a stand up show…well perhaps since seeing Chris Rock a few years ago! Both comedy legends in their own rights!

It was a lovely mini break, made better by the buffet breakfast that we lingered over the next morning at the hotel!  I do love a good hotel breakfast!!

If you ever visit the Hammersmith Apollo (although now I think it’s called the Eventim Apollo!), the Novotel is a great hotel to stay in. Whilst it is very unassuming (it basically looks like a large corporate hotel), it’s only a 2 minute walk from the venue and the room was very comfortable with a nice bathroom (great shower!). There are also plenty of restaurants and bars to choose from in the surrounding area.

Last But Not Least…The British Grand Prix!

We did have to drag ourselves away though, as we needed to get home to prepare for the next day…the British Grand Prix!

In typical British fashion we got four seasons in one day at the race!  It was cold, cloudy and drizzly when we got there and I was very glad that we had splashed out with covered grand stand seats…but oh how I wish I had listened when I was told that even undercover and in the blazing sun the grandstands can be so COLD!!!  Everyone else seemed to have gotten the memo and had come fully prepared – blankets and all!!

I sat shivering for the whole race in my t-shirt and hoodie.  I thought that would be sufficient for a July day…oh dear, rookie error!

Still if I ever go again I will now know to come prepared for all eventualities!!

Despite the sub zero temperatures that were whistling around us, I was still so excited to be there.  We were at Club Corner, supposedly one of the best places to sit (do you agree with this if you have been?), so we had a good view of the pits, the starting grid and start/finish straight, along with a view across towards Vale.

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The view from our seats at Club Corner, Silverstone – the start/finish straight, pits and podium

It was brilliant to see all the goings on in the pits and on the grid as everyone prepared for the race. And the Red Arrows were there doing their thing, they were truly amazing!  Completely fearless and impressive!

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Getting ready to race…with vapour trails from the Red Arrows in the skies above!

The crowd were well up for it and there were Mexican waves and of course deafening cheers whenever Lewis Hamilton flew by us.

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The view towards Vale

The race was great and I really couldn’t fault our views.  It also passed really quickly, it seemed to be over a lot quicker than it is when you watch it on telly!

It was definitely a bit of a one-off special treat as the tickets are VERY expensive, but it was a fabulous day and I don’t regret spending the *cough* hundreds of pounds on those seats!

All of this had taken place over 5 days – too much to squeeze into such a short space of time in my opinion! I had however, taken the Monday off work to try to work in some recovery time (I’m definitely not as young as I used to be!).

And Then Came…The Vertigo!

But I woke up in the early hours of Monday morning with the room spinning violently around me.  It was terrifying.

I lay there for a while not wanting to move my head as it would all start spinning again.  I was feeling hot and very sick, but I couldn’t get up.

Eventually it subsided enough for me to raise myself gingerly out of bed and turn on my fan.

And so began my journey with BPPV – Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo, which I am just starting to emerge from now.

photo of man doing steel wool photography
Photo by Keith Lobo on Pexels.com

I had never heard of it before, but what a miserable condition it is. According to the information I was given, BPPV occurs when small crystals which are in your ear, get dislodged and move into another part of the ear where they shouldn’t be, causing very mixed messages to be sent to your brain, which causes the spinning sensations.

There wasn’t anything the doctor could do, except give me some head exercises to do which whilst very unpleasant (as they bring on the spinning quite dramatically!) are supposed to help realign the crystals. It can take weeks or months for it to clear up apparently.

Oh, the human body is a wonderful thing!

Anyway, the upshot of all of this is that I have been pretty incapacitated for a while, but hopefully I am on the mend now – hurrah!

So, I am hoping I’ll be able to get back out there (here!) and catch up with you all again properly soon!

In the meantime I hope you are all having a lovely summer/winter (depending on where in the world you are!) x

 

 

 

30 thoughts on “Tennis, Motorsport…and Vertigo!”

  1. What jam-packed week! Anyone’s head would be spinning after all that but throwing in BPPV as well and you must’ve felt hideous. Take it easy until you’re completely recovered won’t you? xxx

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      1. My hubby isn’t a fan, but I am and I’d love to go. I have been to Wimbledon years ago and worked there in 2014 so I just love the whole vibe of the place. In fact before I married I lived in the village for a couple of years x

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        1. Really?? That must have been an experience when the tournament was on! What did you do when you worked there? The Wimbledon vibe is something isn’t it, there’s nothing quite like in my opinion! It’s just such a great day out!

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  7. I share two things with you, I have had two bouts of BPPV (recovered from both of them within a couple of months each, not the 3 years I was first told it would last) and I too, saw J.S. Wonderful show!

    Glad you’ve had a summer of sport and fun but sorry about the vertigo afterwards. Take care and don’t overdo it. I was told that doctors are now beginning to think it comes from stress, the sort of stress we don’t know we are under.

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    1. I’m sorry to hear that you have also suffered with this, it’s pretty awful isn’t it. 3 years??! Wow, that would be awful if it lasted that long! It’s been a couple of months for me too and I’m coming out the other side now, hoping to be back to normal again soon! Interesting what you say about the stress, our bodies have ways of telling us that enough is enough sometimes don’t they.
      Aah, a fellow JS fan! I had never seen him do stand up before, it was a total treat!

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  9. We saw Jerry Seinfeld here in Minnesota many years back. We are HUGE fans of the show Seinfeld and loved his stand up routine. Silverstone and F1 is not my thing, but I’d be on the look out for Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond! The husband would have loved to have gone with you!! I hope this condition you described doesn’t return. It sounds awful. Welcome back to the bloggosphere, by the way. 🙂

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  10. Pingback: Trying to get the balance right

  12. Sounds like you had an excellent week,but the real bummer was getting vertigo. Even I had experienced vertigo after an awesome day trip to an amusement park with my friends. Trust me, it kind of sucks…..

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