Second Day at Ascot

With the dashing boys

I was up again this morning to catch the train from Waterloo for yet another day of fun with hats.  I met up with the Young Dutchman, Canadian Balliol Guy, Kellogg Boy and Kellogg Boy's girlfriend, and we went to more car park picnics.  I ended up pretty much spending the day with Canadian Balliol Guy, who between being Canadian (almost American!), from Balliol, and my age, is someone I get along really well with.  Thankfully, he never seems to protest about how much we get thrown together, and was pretty indulgent of me all day, particularly when I kept needing an arm to navigate the crowds.  May have given up the crutches a bit early, I'm afraid!

At the pre-race Car Park 1 picnic

So Canadian Balliol Guy and I kept losing everyone, but still going with the usual pattern:  Watch Queen, get drinks, watch races from the grandstands, go down to watch from the rails, then go back to the Royal Enclosure to drink more champagne.  I even placed a bet for CBDG, as he'd told me to put a tenner on the horse with the silliest name I could find for him.  Alas, "Ithoughtitwasover" definitely thought the race was over well before the finish!  I had fun just bantering back and forth with him all day though, so that was good.

With Canadian Balliol Guy - the two Balliol kids!

Then I joined a few others at the singalong, which was an absolute blast:  They projected the words to all famous British songs like, "Jerusalem", "Rule Britannia" and "Land of Hope and Glory" on big screens, and the whole crowd sang along with it.  Kind of weird as it was the first time I'd mixed with the "regular" crowd all day, and I did feel a bit funny as people spotted the "Royal Enclosure" badge.  I think I'm just so oblivious to class differences in British society, I don't even have the good sense to realise when I've stumbled into something, until all of a sudden you feel people around you tensing up.  Still, the songs were GREAT, and it was one of my favourite parts of the day.


Then back to the Royal Enclosure, totally lost the Young Dutchman and the Oxford crowd (they had to leave early anyway), more champagne, and things get really fuzzy.  I do remember trying to leave at one point, but being caught by this guy I know as I tried to exit, who pulled me back and fed me more champagne...  I remember having great fun, but how could you not when drinking all that champagne?  It was just a blast, dancing outdoors, laughing and socialising with all these guys in top hats.  Definitely the strangest but most awesome nightclub I've ever been to.

Watching the races in the stands

Got back to London after midnight, back to my flat around 1 AM, where I then reached into my handbag and had the awful sinking feeling of not finding my keys.  Here's the problem of living by yourself in a flat with a latch-lock:  You can walk right out of your flat without your keys and totally lock yourself out!

With my favourite Dutchman

So I called my property management company, and then called the emergency call-out number from the recording on my property management company's number, but the emergency call out folks said I should just call 118 118 and get the number of a locksmith.  So I did that, and he thankfully showed up fairly quickly.  Even better, when cracking the front door of the building, he was able to get it open with a piece of cardboard!  It happened so quickly, I was shocked (and blown away that I was going to pay him £85 for a little trick with some cardboard!), but at least then the lock was undamaged, and I wouldn't have to explain to everyone else in my building that I'd destroyed the front door lock.

Actually watching the races, for once?

My own flat, however, was not so easy to break into, and he ended up having to drill out the lock.  Now this lock cost £125, but at least I felt like he earned it a bit more...  And as people pointed out, "Well, it wouldn't be a good thing to find out that somebody could get into your flat with a piece of cardboard, now would it?"  Very good point.

Running into other friends in the Royal Enclosure

He got me in, and thankfully even was willing to just take payment on my debit card (I was worried about having to run out to a cash point in the middle of the night), and by the time a new lock was installed and VAT calculated, running out the door without my keys had just cost me £330.  Ouch!

With Kellogg Boy's girlfriend

Still, I was so grateful when I got inside, I figured it was worth the money.  I ended up chatting with CBDG to assure him that I'd made it inside safely, and sent a few texts to others so they knew I'd made it in unharmed.  But what an end to such an incredible day!