Last day in Windsor

Sunday, August 25th:  Our last day in Windsor before jetting home to Portland tomorrow.  The day started out quite rainy and the changing of the guard at Windsor Castle was called a "Wet Mount."  This means, we guess, that there was no accompanying music by a military band and the guards were wearing foul weather gear. 

A sampling of mailboxes (while we waited for the Guard change).  The blue box (looks like it is black) is an original airmail box commenorating when that service began during the reign of King George V.

The Guards on route from Coldstream Barracks, a 7 minute march to Windsor Castle, for a "changing of the guard."  Central Windsor is closed to traffic for about 2 hours every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday during this ritual.  The Guards are well-protected in their capes, but the young officer who led the parade both way was fully exposed to the elements.

There was lots of police presence, along with community officers and volunteers who acted as hosts and  shepherded the crowds.

Preparation for the exiting of the 'old' guards for the march back to the barracks.  The yellow vests are some of the officers who had the job of herding the cats, ah people, off the street.  Clots of people were queued up for the Windsor Palace tour (which we did in 2016). 

Going home.

Betsy and I wandered around some in town, stopping at a few shops to look at the wares.  We also went to look at the railroad train station -- Windsor is an easy train ride into London, Waterloo Station.  It continued to rain until mid-afternoon.  We returned to the hotel for a break and hot drinks.

At around 4:00 pm, we took ourselves to the Windsor Promenade on the river to catch the French Brothers boat to the Windsor Racecourse, along with about 50 other rowdy folks.  We had tickets for the Last Summer Race Meet.   The party had started early for some.  We slowly cruised up river to the race course pier, disembarked and flowed with the crowd into the grounds.  Our tickets gave us access to the Club Enclosure and we immediately found seats in the roofed area just opposite the finish line.  

There were 6 races, the first started at 5:15 pm. It is worst than watching football -- it takes about 10 minutes to set up the race (getting the horses warmed up and positioned in the opening chutes), once the horses are loaded the race lasts about 3 minutes, and then it is another 27 minutes until the next race.  However, the model works well for people with limited attention spans.  Attendees in the Enclosure included many well-dressed guys, mostly in suit coats and ties, and women in high heels and skimpy dresses, and even a few "fascinators."  These people attend to see and be seen, and to drink.  (The people in the other half of the stands - probably General Seating - were more suitably dressed for the weather.)

After the first race the skies darkened and there was an intense rain storm.  Everyone scurried undercover -  if you were dressed for a garden party, where would you carry an umbrella?  Fortunately, it stopped before the second race was scheduled.  I made three bets on the second, third and fourth races, losing the first one and the last one.  But Betsy's selection in the third race, "Sea of Roses," pulled out a surprise win 6 to 1, paying 35 pounds on a 5 pound bet.  

The course at Windsor is shaped like a rough figure 8 and they shifted the starting gate, depending on the length of the race.  The first two races, which featured youngsters, ran a straight 6 or 7 furlongs to the finish line, while the later races started on the far side of the figure 8 and did the loop before coming down the straight-away.   As a result the audience sees little of the actual action, mostly keeping track of progress via the big electronic display boards.  After the horses pound through, a crew of guys marched down the green way (the course is all grass) replacing sod chunks.

The start of the third race (one mile and 3 furlongs).

Sea of Roses on the right (in the video replay).

Again our horse on the right.

Leading coming to the finish line.

Sea of Roses is the winner by a head.

The winning ticket, just before cashing it in.

The view from out seats and the jumbo TV.  The finish line is just to the right.

After the last race at 7:45, we boarded the boat for a slow ride back to the Windsor dockside.  We walked into our hotel which was only a block away, had a light, late supper,  packed and retired.  

I am writing this on the next morning before breakfast, checking out of the hotel and leaving for the airport.  We hope you have found some enjoyment following along on our 2024 European Adventure.  Cheers!