As part of the effort to become real Londoners, last weekend me and aussie colleague Daniel decided to join the feasting crowds watching the traditional boat race between Oxford and Cambridge.
The first thing we noticed: there are a LOT of people out there, along the 4 miles of the race track.
The second thing: there does not seem a lot going on…
Everyone is having a nice picnic, plenty of booze, chatting and profiting of the sunshine.
But nothing moves on the Thames…
…up to the moment the boats arrive!
There are in fact 3 races in the day: women, men 2nd teams, men.
And each race occupies your field of vision for a total of about 30 seconds! unless you came in early enough to get a place next to one of the big screens which broadcast the whole thing live.
This reminds me of my first – and only – experience going to watch an F1 Grand Prix – a whole day of waiting, and when the cars finally whizzed around our corner, they were so quick I could not even identify them! The most climatic event was one driver going off-track just in front of me 🙂
Luckily for all, a few more boats do show up, following the racing ones, adding a bit to the overall enjoyment:
firemen…
police…
port authority…
more motor boats…
… and finally the sun settles, giving me an opportunity for a nice shot from the Hammersmith bridge. Time to pack your empty beer cans and go home.
Oh, I was almost forgetting: Oxford won the 3 races by quite a margin.
And there was something else to make the cheer up the day: scantily clad ladies showing their brazilian dance skills!
Not a bad day in the end…