Bad Gastein!!!
Hello friends! I know it's been a while, and quite a few tournaments since my last post, but I think it's time for a little comeback/debut/fresh blog---from the beautiful city of Bad Gastein. For those of you who know me, I always try and elaborate on what the tour is all about, and the behind the scenes stuff that people never know about—heck, I'm even writing a book about it! People see tennis players and see the glamour, the spotlight, the Grand Slams, and the red carpet. A lot of people don't know about the events that are in the middle of nowhere. That don't have Wifi in a 30 mile radius... That only have one court to use for practice amongst 32 players... That have you stay in a hotel that isn't near anything exciting, so you're pretty much a hotel prisoner. As cool as that may sound, it can get quite old after 32 weeks of it. Anyway... Enough of that. Why? Because, we are in freakin' Bad Gastein. It's pretty much heaven on earth. And if you've never been, I STRONGLY, STRONGLY, STRONGLY, suggest for you to visit. Now, I know that I may be a little biased to the US Open for being my favorite tournament---well, let's just say that US Open is my favorite Slam---while Bad Gastein has quickly become my ABSOLUTELY MOST FAVORITE TOURNAMENT in the world. Granted, I'm sure that there are some absolutely great tournaments out there that I haven't been to yet, but this is just---wow. Let's talk about getting here. It wasn't easy, coming from a small city in France, but when you have a traveling buddy like Miss Shelby Rogers, it's bound to be super fun and easy. Transportation? Sure! We arrived at a train station about an hour from the site, and sure enough, we had a great big car waiting for us. The ride? When I tell you that the driver was a DJ, I'm not kidding. There was never a commercial that came on. And as we all know, there are some really amazing DJs from Europe, so surely, the car was jumpin'. Straight up. Mountains? Goats? Villages? Name it! Bad Gastein has got it. I actually want to write a travel guide to Bad Gastein. Oh, I haven't even gotten to the hotel. We arrived to a five star hotel that's right next to a waterfall---no big deal. Upon a swift check in, I went into my suite---I mean, just a normal room here. 5-star hotel? Pssssh... More like 7. I have closet space for WEEKS! So, let's talk about breakfast. The bread is to die for. And it's not just one kind of bread—you have about 15 different options. You have every strudel you can imagine, a carving station—you even have a real HONEY COMB that you can add to your muesli, oatmeal, cereal, yogurt, and milk—WHATEVER YOU DESIRE! Access to the courts? It's quite a struggle ya know, walking like 10 yards to the courts. And keep in mind, MOUNTAINS EVERYWHERE. If you're about to serve? You're serving while looking at a mountain. You're chasing a dropshot? More like chasing it into a mountain. No big deal. So what to do, what to do for dinner? Why don't we take a beautiful five minute car ride to downtown Bad Gastein where you'll get a gajizillion dollar view, to get the best Weiner Schnitzel ever? I think yes. Friends, as most players can attest to---a lot of times, it has nothing to do with tennis. It's just about feeling good about your state of mind. And as of now, I'm in a great state! Ich liebe Bad Gastein. I love Bad Gastein. Te amo Bad Gastein. Je t'aime Bad Gastein. Whether or not all that is grammatically correct, y'all get the gist... With lots and lots and lots and lots of love, From Bad Gastein