Cheltenham Part I

As promised, I want to share with you the Cheltenham experience! Cheltenham is a lovely city about 2 hours northwest of London.  It is renown for it's annual National Hunt Festival.  It features the famous Cheltenham Gold Cup, the tradition of which goes back to 1819. It is  four days of the best steeplechase and hurdle racing which attracts thousands of visitors from Ireland due to a strong line-up of Irish horses, trainers, and jockeys.  The 20 races offer in excess of £2 million in prize money.

Adam and I are not really big into gambling or horse races for that matter.  So why bother to go at all? We went for the experience and the fun of being with a great new group of friends. These people are Adam's co-workers in the graduate training program of the Irish Dairy Board, or The G-Unit as they like to call themselves!  


One of the girls, Claire, is currently living in Cheltenham working for Meadow Cheese which is a part of the IDB.  Because of her proximity to the racecourse she decided to invite a few friends in for the weekend.  A few friends in this instance means 13 people!  It was a bit like being back in college. The first morning I woke up and had to step over 3 people sleeping on the floor just to get to the bathroom!  Oh, Adam and I shared a twin bed in a room the size of most closets in the US.  Looking back a week later I'm almost laughing.  I'm such a princess, I just can't help it!  One saving grace was having Paraic make me a cup of tea in the morning and devouring his delicious homemade lemon cake!


Race day was quite fun, but very crowded!  We didn't make it for ladies day (the women go all out with their dresses and hats) but there were still plenty of ladies looking lovely.  We did our best to fit in.  Check us out!

Saw many other great hats and fascinators, here are a few I remembered to take a pictures of!

The ladies were not the only ones dressed to the nines.  Check out our cute counterparts!

Barry and Adam doing a little advertising for the IDB.

Our friend Ciaran was in the know and helped explain the betting process.  He was the big winner of the group.  Adam also placed a few bets and even won 50 pounds!  

Ciaran giving us betting tips!

Adam with his winning ticket!

 Other than the crowds and tired feet in high heels, we had beautiful weather, great friends, and a good time!  But the great time did not end when the last race was won.  We took the celebration back to Claire's for a few more drinks, dancing, and of course some singing!  


Stay tuned for Cheltenham Part II - "They Call Him Adam Croissant"