Polo Crashers and the Long Walk

Got up early and picked up the rental car. First stop: Windsor Castle. We explored the grounds, wandered through the staterooms, and saw Queen Mary's Dollhouse. No photos allowed inside but we snuck a few 🤫 The dollhouse has running water and electricity, everything built to 1/12th scale. The books in the library actually have real passages written in them. The Long Walk leading up to the castle is about 4km and looked like it goes on forever.

Then came the polo situation. The grounds we'd originally picked had hosted their match the day before. We pulled into the parking lot, immediately questioned why there were barely any cars, but someone swore they could hear people, so we carried on. Out came the sunscreen, around the corner we went... and found a children's birthday party with a giant bouncy castle. Without saying much, we all quietly turned around, marched back to the car, and pretended we had never been there. Found another polo club a short drive away. £30 per car to enter. We wandered through the pro shop, found a little coffee cart and ice cream stand, and claimed a table out on the lawn. The schedule said 2:30 but the match didn't start until 3:30. In the meantime we tried to find a washroom in the clubhouse and got asked for our wristbands. Wristbands? That's when it clicked. The seating chart. The curious looks. The guests in fascinators dressed to the nines. We hadn't wandered into a polo match. We'd wandered into a private event. Sofie had actually suspected this the moment we walked in, but naturally we didn't listen. So we made our graceful exit with our oversized Yeti water bottles in hand, looking every bit like we'd packed for a public park. The opposite side of the field had a spot where you could just pull up your car and watch. Ended up being perfect. Locals had the whole thing dialed: tablecloths, proper silverware, wine glasses, enough food to rival a dinner party. Just before the match started, the announcer gave a special welcome to the former President of Laos and all his guests. We slowly looked at each other. Pretty sure we had just crashed the former President of Laos' polo party. 😬 We fixed divots at halftime and the finish was intense. A crackin' good time.

On the way back we stopped in Richmond. Beautiful little place. If you've watched Ted Lasso, you'd recognize a few of the spots. Mental note for next time: skip the private event, bring a picnic, and maybe double-check whether we're actually invited.