Earlier in the week, a friend I play polo with occasionally asked me, "Are you free this weekend?" Apparently there was a polo tournament happening this weekend and they needed another -2 player. Of course, I was only too happy to say yes! (And yes, I realise that my life is slightly bizarre in that I'm the type of person who people would randomly ask to play in a polo tournament. But that's why I'm keeping this blog, right? To document how slightly interesting and bizarre my life is?)
It was a place that I'd played at before, so I caught the train up to the town nearest the farm, and then grabbed a cab out to the farm itself. I was surprised when the cab fare came to almost £13, as I know the cab ride can be done for less than £10, so that was kind of annoying.
When I arrived, it turned out that nearly all of the other players were late, due to bad traffic on the roads up from London. I of course had taken the train, and so hadn't noticed any of it, but had simply spent the journey pleasantly reading my book and arrived right on time. Everyone kept commenting on how smart I was to take the train, as though it were some kind of quaint choice, not an absolute necessity due to my lack of ability to afford a car in London.
Due to the delay in our start time due to the traffic jam, I was able to watch the first game of the tournament, where I found myself sitting next to a young man who had come up to watch, having never seen polo before. As he asked questions about how the game was played and how much it cost, he finally exclaimed, "So this is basically a way for bankers to run around spending loads of money!"
Indeed, I think Robin Williams' quote that, "Cocaine is God's way of saying that you're making too much money" could be applied to polo as well. I don't like to admit it, but one weekend tournament was costly me nearly half-a-month's rent. How ridiculous, eh? (Then again, I live simply to be able to afford to play polo, so it all stays within my budget. Yet, it's definitely not a case of "too much money" with me!)
Finally when it came time for my game, it was a good run, and I had a good time. I wasn't playing quite as well as I would have hoped, as I swung at the ball quite a few times and completely whiffed it, but at least I managed to stay stuck in on my super-fast ponies. The pony I played in the 2nd and 4th chukkers (4 chukkers in a game, same pony for 1st and 3rd and then the 2nd and 4th), was an absolutely fantastic pony, Recoleta, who just poured on speed anytime I asked for it, and so was just an absolute joy to ride.
Unfortunately, one of the players on our four-person team just wasn't as skilled as the rest of us, and so ended up doing a lot of running around without really contributing to the action of the game. I try not to get frustrated, for I remember that I as well was once an absolute beginner, and this girl will improve over time with practice, but it didn't make the game quite difficult as we were basically playing 3-on-4.
Finally in the end, we lost the game almost literally as the whistle blew, as the other team scored one last goal in the final seconds of the game. Incredibly exciting for them, but incredibly frustrating for us!!
Still, we all shook hands and retired back to the pony lines to have a beer and talk about the game, before people started heading home. I asked if anyone was driving back near the train station (almost always, somebody is going that way), but was surprised when nobody was.
So I concluded that I would have to call a cab to go back to the station, but I figured instead of trying to give directions out to the farm (where almost nobody knows where it is), I instead figured I should walk to the local pub, just two blocks away, as it would be much easier for a cab to find it.
Yet once I got to the pub, I was feeling good, wearing trainers and not carrying any gear, and still smarting a bit about the £13 charge to get there in the first place. So why not just keep walking? Although I wasn't sure of the exact route, I figured I remembered most of the last turns the cab driver had made, and once I was close in towards town, surely there would be signs that let me know how to get to the town centre. Plus, couldn't we all use a little more exercise? I suppose my hiking of the Appalachian Trail and my weekly running club has made me a bit over-confident about my ability to cover distances on foot, so I decided to go for it. I did worry a bit about what the people I play polo with would think if they saw me walking by the side of the road (as taking the train is quaint, but walking 5 miles is kind of crazy), but luckily, as far as I could see, nobody passed by me.
I guess I'm glad it was a nice day out however, as nearly two hours later, I finally arrived back at the train station. I hadn't made many wrong turns either, so that my 5.5 mile route was relatively direct. But when I finally arrived at the train station, I basically got on the train and immediately fell asleep, I was so exhausted!
The things I will do to save £13...
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