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Tennis Travel: See McEnroe in the Dressing Room

With the Australian Open tennis Grand Slam due to start on Monday, tennis is on our brains. It's probably too late to get many center court seats in Melbourne, so we're already looking ahead to the 2008 Wimbledon tournament, not least of all because we were inspired by reading about the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum.

This museum just won a gold medal from Visit London as the Best Tourism Experience of 2007, and it's got lots of neat stuff, even if you're not a huge tennis fan. From a tennis fashion exhibit through to the Reaction Zone (where you test your reaction time against some illuminated tennis balls), there's lots to see. We're particularly keen for the walkthrough of the men's dressing room--as it was in the 1980s when John McEnroe was there. He's still there--in hologram form--and will tell you stories as you walk through.

The museum also has audio guides in many languages plus live guided tours, but we're rather taken by the gadgets they have for hearing-impaired visitors. You can get a hand-held video guide that tells you about the museum in sign language. Just don't stare too long at the video screen or you'll forget to check out what McEnroe's wearing (or not) in the dressing room.

Related Stories:
· Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum [Official Site]
· Boris Becker's Unauthorized Wimbledon Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: wallyg]