So a couple of weeks ago, Gill, one of my nearest and dearest, had a bit of a brainwave idea for her birthday... a day at the races.
Most of the week before was spent with me excited but quietly dreading the event as the weather could be described as nothing but typically British. I had visions of being freezing cold, standing under and umbrella as the rain ruined my frock and hair while my heels sank unsophisticatedly into the grass.
Luckily, I woke up on Saturday morning to blazing sunshine.
Several outfit of amends later - obviously I had planned a wet weather outfit - and I was out of the door and off to Ascot.
The journey was a slightly traumatic one. This can probably be summed up in one word.... Twickenham.
Yes we decided to go to Ascot on the one weekend of the year when the trains are beyond packed with thousands of drunk Rugby fans (or people that want an excuse to dress up in 70's outfits and hit the booze at 10am). I got to the platform in time for the first train to Ascot to be rammed full of Rugby fans, with no more space for us Ascot goers dolled up in hats and heels. But, after a half and hour wait, I finally made it onto the train.
I thought my drama had stopped there.
Turned out it was the wrong train. So I ended up having a nice alternative route to some town I don't remember the name of and then finally jumping into a taxi with some other peeps (again how very 'British' that some gentlemen offered me a ride in their cab to the races). I may have been about an hour late, but finally I had made it.
Before I went to Ascot, I had decided that I would put a limit on how much I spent with a pocket for the winnings and a pocket for the losses. Within about 1 minute of me being there I think this theory went out of the window as I realised it's actually really not that easy to win anything at the races!
I thought that I would pretty much definitely come away with something, but how wrong I was.
I'm proud to say that I won a whole £2.53 across the whole day thanks to this little beaut (carefully selected due to my extreme knowledge of horse racing, and definitely nothing to do with the four leaf clover they had clipped into his hair). In comparison to the rest of the group actually wasn't all that bad, some lucky members managed to walk away with a grand total of zero.
Luckily, despite all the loosing, peeps were still smiling and we had a pretty good day out... Happy Birthday Gilly x
Most of the week before was spent with me excited but quietly dreading the event as the weather could be described as nothing but typically British. I had visions of being freezing cold, standing under and umbrella as the rain ruined my frock and hair while my heels sank unsophisticatedly into the grass.
Luckily, I woke up on Saturday morning to blazing sunshine.
Several outfit of amends later - obviously I had planned a wet weather outfit - and I was out of the door and off to Ascot.
The journey was a slightly traumatic one. This can probably be summed up in one word.... Twickenham.
Yes we decided to go to Ascot on the one weekend of the year when the trains are beyond packed with thousands of drunk Rugby fans (or people that want an excuse to dress up in 70's outfits and hit the booze at 10am). I got to the platform in time for the first train to Ascot to be rammed full of Rugby fans, with no more space for us Ascot goers dolled up in hats and heels. But, after a half and hour wait, I finally made it onto the train.
I thought my drama had stopped there.
Turned out it was the wrong train. So I ended up having a nice alternative route to some town I don't remember the name of and then finally jumping into a taxi with some other peeps (again how very 'British' that some gentlemen offered me a ride in their cab to the races). I may have been about an hour late, but finally I had made it.
Before I went to Ascot, I had decided that I would put a limit on how much I spent with a pocket for the winnings and a pocket for the losses. Within about 1 minute of me being there I think this theory went out of the window as I realised it's actually really not that easy to win anything at the races!
I thought that I would pretty much definitely come away with something, but how wrong I was.
I'm proud to say that I won a whole £2.53 across the whole day thanks to this little beaut (carefully selected due to my extreme knowledge of horse racing, and definitely nothing to do with the four leaf clover they had clipped into his hair). In comparison to the rest of the group actually wasn't all that bad, some lucky members managed to walk away with a grand total of zero.
Luckily, despite all the loosing, peeps were still smiling and we had a pretty good day out... Happy Birthday Gilly x
