(photo source)

A few years ago, my husband and I traveled to London, but did a quick stop in Oxford. I had always wanted to see the university and had heard about the famous “Oxford/Cambridge” Boat Race. While in Oxford, we heard mumblings about the race. We knew race day was getting close and were disappointed to learn that it was taking place the following day – after we’d already left the Oxford.

We returned to London that evening and made plans to tour the city the next day. Thinking the Boat Race was being televised from Oxford later that afternoon, we made our way back to our Inn to watch it on television. Much to our surprise, we quickly learned (after seen many London sites in the background) that the Boat Race was actually taking place in London on the Thames River - a place that we were near just hours before!

The history of the race and how it was started is quite interesting – a bit of a challenge between two friends who were attending rival schools in 1829. Oxford won the first race, and, decades later, the winner still claims bragging rights for the year.

This year will mark the 158th Boat Race between the two schools. The Boat Race will take place on Saturday, April 7, at 2:15PM London time. If you are not one of lucky ones attending the race in person, you can still cheer for your favorite team virtually. The BBC will be airing the race live online and many other TV/radio stations will be televising the event in real time.

You know I’ll be watching!

Ciao!