Holland: One Day @ Rotterdam #1

I didn’t have much time to wander around the city, but from what I could see, it seems to be very pretty. The buildings and streets are just like any other Dutch city. I don’t think we will find much differences between Dutch cities, to be honest. Probably the part that I enjoyed more about the city was its underground, but maybe just because I haven’t been in one since the beginning of the year. To be honest, from some stations to others, it actually seemed to go a lot faster than the ones I’ve been in other countries. But I’m pretty sure it’s roughly the same speed everywhere. As I had previously mentioned at the end of last year/beginning of this one, I bought myself a ticked for one of the semi-finals of the ABN-AMRO World Tennis Tournament, which is held everywhere at Rotterdam. This semi-final was played between Gilles Simon and Tomas Berdych. This match was won by the last player, with the following result: 6-2 6-1

As for the tennis match, which was what took me to Rotterdam in the first place, it was bloody amazing. The Ahoy area is pretty fancy, to be honest, which makes me question, how much more fancy are the grand slams then? In respect to the match itself, I now do understand people who actually love those really long matches. This was awfully too quick. It didn’t even lasted for one hour. However, if it was either Rafael Nadal or Maria Sharapova playing, I’d prefer instead a quick match. I was expecting so much more from Gilles Simon considering the fact that he defeated Andy Murray in the previous round. Either way, Tomas Berdych played an amazing match from the very first minute, and he was definitely the best in the court during the whole match.

Watching tennis matches live actually makes you notice an awful lot of details. First, it seems that they have no time at all to rest between points – it seems to be a lot more on TV. Second, I never noticed that the ball kids and the line judges are substituted during the match itself. Third, even if he players scream or shout something, it’s actually not that loud as it seems on TV.

Regarding this specific match, I have one last comment to make. THAT WAS THE WORST UMPIRE I’VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE! Honestly, it got to a point, very early in the match, when I just wanted to shout – “Sir, you suck!“. First, poor Gilles. His last name is Simon not Simone. Second, don’t shush people; that seems rude. Just say as everyone else does: “silence please“. Third, it’s THIR-TY and FOR-TY, not THIR-TEEN and FOUR-TEEN. Honestly, he did a really made job. And plus, we could hear some of his reactions to the match. Like, man that’s not your job. I’m not saying that he had to have a perfect British accent, but people should be sure that the umpires can actually pronounce the words correctly.

Lastly, about the photographs themselves. I’m sorry that they aren’t of great quality. It was a really crappy day to take photographs, and plus, I still have to learn how to take better photos indoors. I have published a few other photos on the blog’s instagram account (you can check it here). And all these photos were altered using the programme pixelmator.

The view that I had from my seat.