Posh as Tosh

With little knowledge of the enormity of the Oxford/Cambridge boat race, Amisha and I decided to take the train, then the bus, then the train, then the bus, then finally settled on the train, to a rather peachy Putney, where we were met by streets filled with spirited people, french styled markets, and sad looking burger and beer deals. As we made our way to the river, scored a geeky flag and asked which way the race was going, (I would have given give me a wierd look too, but I have no shame!!) we were stopped in our tracks by a row of Navy Commando's. Turns out we were just in time to get a good squiz at the Cambridge crew in their hot one-piece-jobbies and the Oxfordians in their more stylish navy blue atttire as they came out of their garages with war expressions on their faces and took their places for some pics on the podium. I realised how far apart our worlds were as the posh people stood above us in their clubhouse looking all proper and a tad boring, although there was someone wearing a colourful stripey suit which was kinda comical; I'm not sure if it was worn with this intention. In fact the whole atmosphere was quite high brow in this area; even the cheers were all polite sounding, far from the endless screaming and grunting that one would find at a rugby game. When we were finally allowed to cross the foamy green carpet, we decided to turn back and find a spot over the other side of the river; we were again in the right spot at the right time as the crew came out with their boats, did the gumboot throw from their boat, and went off for a warmup. After a stop at a very busy offie, we found a bench on the riverside upon which we stood attempting to see over the wall of people that already lined the river, when suddenly the boats were off racing, half and hour ahead of schedule!! Utterly confused, we asked a policewoman whether it had indeed started and we discovered that it was the reserve team. With relief, that gave me a bit more time to weasel my way into a gap on the wall next to a lovely old lady so I could get some action shots. Sad to say, despite my lack of knowledge of either teams, my hopes were on Oxford, (based on the fact that I preferred the name and I didn't like the Girl Guide colours of Cambridge) but Cambridge took the race. All in all, it was an interesting sporting experience, and if I am in NZ when Cambridge goes to race us on the Waikato, I would be tempted to go.