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Sunday, March 25, 2018

Where Can You See The Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race And The Harvard-Yale Regatta - Book For The Next One

Problems
Who will win the boat race?
Where can you see it?

Answers
Where can you see it? The race takes place not in Cambridge nor Oxford but in London, from Putney to Mortlake.

Map from Wikipedia.


The rowing race takes place along the Thames, and can be seen from bridges from several riverside pubs in London.

I missed it this year because my internet was down. Better be ready for next year.

Swans at St Ives, Cambridgeshire. Photo by Angela Lansbury, copyright.

This year was pretty cold - it's still freezing in London, and predicted to be equally cold next year. Not ideal for outdoors, unless you come from a cold country and have proper outdoor clothing. This means get out your ski gear. In the UK people dressed for the office think it's cold outside.

However, cold weather doesn't stop people going skiing, in Canada, or the USA, or Korea, or Italy, Or Switzerland, Or France, Or New Zealand, because they are dressed for it.

Cambridge
Why did Cambridge win? Was anybody surprised? I was not surprised. I would expect them to win. Cam bridge - the name means bridge over the river Cam. It's a beautiful city with waterways always inviting, especially in summer.

However, looking at the statistics, the result is not predictable. It's a close run thing. I see that Oxford and Cambridge have both won about 80 times since the race was started in the 1800s.

British Weather in March
This year, if I had been out at a pub, I would have spent most of the time indoors watching on the pub TV. Unfortunately, the summer weather wasn't with us this year. Snow isn't unknown in Britain in March. In 1979, when a member of my family was born, I recall looking out of a hospital window in Watford at the snow. On the other hand, on another birthday, in the 1960s, I have photos of the family in London sitting in a back garden in Edgware, Middlesex, NW London, in summery sunshine.

Three City Circuit
Think now about a holiday including London and then Cambridge for this time next year. Three places to put on your itinerary, London, Cambridge, Oxford. Meanwhile, what can you do in Cambridge in summer? You will want to see the river and the university colleges.

All three destination, London, Oxford and Cambridge, offer sport, culture and history. You could make a three-city circuit.

Old Bridge Hotel
I will tell you about Cambridge in a later post. Come back. In fact, I have already written a lot about one of my favourite waterside restaurants, The Old Bridge Hotel, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire.







You can watch the men's event, the women's event or both. They take place on the same day, the women's event first.  If you don't make it to the area, the race is shown on TV. Also look at YouTube. 

In America a similar race takes place between Harvard and Yale. It is called the Regatta. Notice the doubte T. 

Where? On America's The Thames River, involving New London, Connecticut. The colours are blue for Yale and Red for Harvard. How do you remember which colour is which team? Easy. LE in both Yale and blue. RD in both Harvard and red.

UK
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-5539949/Cambridge-win-2018-Boat-Race-Oxford-dominated-gloomy-Thames.html

https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/bars/boat-race-2018-route-where-to-watch-oxford-vs-cambridge-go-headtohead-a3797986.html

https://www.visitbritain.com/gb/en

USA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard–Yale_Regatta

visittheusa.com (Note the double T.)

author
Angela Lansbury
Travel writer and photographer, author and speaker

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