Thursday, April 12, 2012

London - Part IV - Cambridge vs. Oxford Boat Race


On our last full day in London, we were invited by a friend of my husband to visit her home and watch the Cambridge vs. Oxford rowing race on the river right near to her house.  What a treat!

We spent the morning wandering around Piccadilly Circus area, and then we took the tube to Putney Bridge.  She met us at the station and then we wandered through the park by the river until we reached Fulham Palace, where we had a look around and the kids had some fun kicking balls on the grass.

We continued to walk along the river to The River CafĂ© (of Jamie Oliver fame), where we waited at the one-mile mark to watch the boats go by.  The plan was to then walk back to the house and watch the finish on the television while eating lunch.  We saw the boats row by and started back toward the house.  On the way we passed a pub with a television and noticed that the race had been stopped due to someone swimming in the water!

So we went back out to the river but we could not get a good view of what was going on.  We later learned that the race was re-started because of a swimmer that was swimming among the oars – crazy!  The race took a turn when two of the oars collided and the head fell off an oar.

Unfortunately, it was a race fraught with disaster, but the victors, Cambridge, were very dignified and restrained about their win – they did not celebrate on camera or even act particularly victorious.

After the race we had a lovely lunch and then headed back to the hotel for one last evening together.  The next morning we went home very early!

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