Easter Sunday
"Row, row, row your boat...
not so gently down the stream" is what one sign said. This referred to the annual Oxford vs. Cambridge Boat Race. Begun in 1829, and held annually since 1856 (except during the world wars), this race down the Thames between the rowing clubs of Oxford and Cambridge is just the type of cultural/social/sporting event that I really wanted to see upon moving here. The race is 4.2 miles long and Cambridge leads the series 81-77 (prior to this year's event) with one dead heat. There were expected to be about a quarter million people watching live along the riverbank. I positioned myself just a couple hundred yards from the start, and people were at least 3 deep on the north side of the river.
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Packed south bank of the Thames |
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North bank looking east |
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Looking west |
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BNY Mellon was the sponsor this year (an Investment company) |
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Might go to this side next year, they had a party going on over there. |
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Several boat clubs clustered together on the south bank. |
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Race route |
The BBC also broadcast this event live. They had some large video screens for people to watch the race on once it had passed them, which took about 10 seconds before they were out of your field of view due to the crowds...and that they were really hauling arse. These crews often contain several Olympians and they are not all English. In fact, in 1987 there were several Americans that mutinied due to politics within the Oxford team and pulled out. They were replaced by reserves and Oxford surprised many by still winning.
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Camera operator on a crane... |
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...quite high up there. |
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Oxford leading (dark blue on the right) |
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The large flotilla that followed them. |
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Some really nice animation of the course. Even I didn't realize it was animation right away. |
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Mixed reaction to Oxford's 2 boat-length victory. |
There were some very 'posh' types watching. Definitely from well-to-do families that could afford schools like Oxford and Cambridge. This park was right next to Craven Cottage, the stadium for Fulham Football Club and an Arsenal rival (though nothing like the rivalry with Tottenham). Fulham is nicknamed FulAmericans because so many American expats choose to live in this neighborhood.
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Craven Cottage stadium in the background |
Also, in the Irish's continued attempt to take over the world one pub at a time, there was a Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey bus there and they were giving out free samples. I may have had one, or three.
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Hey, they were small, don't judge. |
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This is off-topic, but since I mentioned it above: Tracy and I have a theory that the Irish are taking over the world one pub at a time. We've been to Paddy Flaherty's, a self-proclaimed highest Irish pub in the world in Cuzco, Peru. And there was the southern-most Irish pub in Ushuaia, Argentina. There has been an Irish Pub in every country we've been to, I believe, including Turkey, Cambodia, Thailand, Germany, Spain, Croatia, Mexico, etc. Someday every city will have one, or many more. That's just the start though. They have to then expand beyond the drinking to start taking control. That could take awhile. Once they go to the pub, their motivation to be productive does diminish. I never said we'd see it happen in our lifetime.