ISTANBUL, Turkey - Fresh off their second Premier-level title of the year in Moscow, Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova come to Istanbul as one of the elite four doubles teams competing at the year-ending TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships. They're also our WTA Bloggers for the week! Read on...
Monday, October 24, 2011
Good evening from Istanbul, Turkey! I am sitting on my bed looking out at a beautiful view over the water -- very picturesque with boats sitting calmly on the water... don't know what they are doing but makes for a nice picture!
I can finally breathe a sigh of relief from a not-so-long travel day, but travel days are never easy, especially when travelling overseas. Slava and I arrived at 4pm to Istanbul after taking a car to the airport at 10am in Moscow. It was a straight flight, which was nice, but a full plane and lots of big and tall people so I am lucky I'm pretty little and I can squeeze into any seat and be pretty comfy :)
It was my second time in Moscow, the previous time I was there for Fed Cup and I didn't have a good memory of the stay, but I had a really nice time this time. Of course, winning the title helps ;) I've picked up on some Russian words that Slava and Alla (Kudryavtseva) have taught me, and I can do pretty well in greetings, expressions, and an occasional tongue twister. Slava, Emi (her coach) and I went to the Red Square yesterday and braved through the rain to take some pictures and we even had ice cream inside the shopping center next to the square. Yum! Slava has the photos so maybe she'll show you some on the blog tomorrow.
After we arrived at the hotel -- we even have personal drivers here!! (Really, it's my first time, I feel like such a diva) -- I rested up a bit before heading back to the airport to pick up my parents who were flying in from Hong Kong where they were visiting my brother. I saw them for the finals of the US Open where my family all flew in to see me, but before that didn't get to see them for a couple months. I know they are really excited to be here for the Championships and I hope we will be able to do some sightseeing. My dad loves fishing (he even brought his fishing pole) so I am trying to see if I can find a good fishing spot for him. Anybody know a good fishing spot in Istanbul??
I somehow messed up the time here, I assumed my phone would automatically change the time zone when I landed here (in my defense it usually does) but it didn't so I ended up arriving an hour before I intended to, so I had a cappuccino and a sandwich at a coffee shop before grabbing a bouquet of flowers for Mom and waiting for them like a dummy outside the arrivals terminal exit. I say that because it's not easy to be on the waiting side, but I know that it's a really nice feeling when someone is waiting for you when you get out, especially with flowers :) And my parents have done it so many times for me!
I've got my iPod stuck on my speakers playing relaxation music -- a mix of classical, meditation, and soundtracks from movies like Braveheart, Dances with Wolves, Gladiator, etc.... bringing a portable set of speakers is really a life saver for music lovers like me, I don't know what I would do without being able to have music surround me sometimes! It really relaxes me.
Which reminds me as well, what also relaxes me is singing... if you want to hear some songs of me singing, here are some links :) I am trying to branch out my musical genres, because I normally sing Broadway/ballad types, so hopefully it sounds okay!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUi-aLjoM3c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdNI6omhPHo
There's a couple more on my YouTube page if you want to hear more :)
Good night!
Vania
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