Royal Ascot Races - June 2016

As some may know, I have returned to the lively city that is my second home - London.

Even before I had arranged to come back on my second visa (thankyou British grandparents!) my London friends were sending me links and invitations to some great events happening in the UK this Summer.

The main event we booked was the Grand Finale Day of the Royal Ascot Races on June 18th.

We secured tickets through the tour company Fanatics which got us tickets into the Windsor Enclosure, travel to and from the race track and a bottle of bubbly to share on the way!

We had a group of 6 girls and as we had departed so early for the racetrack we arrived early enough to secure a table under a marquee. Unfortunately, the weather was a bit hit and miss, but at least it didn't rain!

Me, Tanita, Cara, Georgina, Becca and Hanna.

We got to see a couple of familiar faces, one right in our marquee and the other trotting past us in a fancy carriage.

Her Maj racing down the track

A Bride-to-Be brought this handsome devil along

While we may have been more concerned with the drinking, eating and men in suits, we did manage to put a few bets on. Cara, with help from Uncle George up in Scotland, was in charge of placing our collective bets -  GBP2 each way.

We did pretty well, coming in with 40 quid on the 3rd race - enough to get us a jug of Pimms and secure our next bet. The last 2 races had no return, but we had our Pimms so we were pretty pleased.

We finished the day off returning to London with a sing along on the bus.

The Details

Royal Ascot Races

Started in 1611 by Queen Anne, the Royal Ascot Races run over 5 days and are a major event on the British social calendar.

Ticket prices start from £27, depending on the day and enclosure you choose.

This year we paid around £60pp for our ticket through Fanatics.

Victoria and Albert Museum

With some free time on my hands today, I took the advice from one of the girls from the Facebook group London Bloggers and ventured down to South Kensington to explore the Victoria and Albert Museum.

If you don't know who old Vicky and Bert are you probably a) live under a rock or b) live in a country that has no ties to Great Britain. Queen Victoria is the longest reigning female monarch (63 years) in history and Prince Albert was her husband (also her first cousin too! Ewww).

There is a bit of a range of of exhibitions, from glassware to fashion to antiquities from all over the world.

The change in fashions after the Great War was led by Coco Chanel.

Wandering further through the museum I came upon this great find in the China Exhibit. 

It's an ancient Chinese esky!! (ice chest)

There is so much to explore at the V&A, from limited exhibits to the more permanent ones such as Japanese, Chinese, Medieval Europe and glass!

            

                      

                              

The Victoria and Albert Museum is located in Kensington, with the nearest tube station being South Kensington. Admittance is free but they do ask for a £4 donation for upkeep.

Vegemite V Marmite

Current history shows us that Australia will beat England by a mile (The Ashes) and it's no different in the food aisle.

This morning, I decided to finally compare my beloved Australian Vegemite with its British version.

There is a distinct difference between the two spreads in texture - the Marmite is more runny and is a bit more easy to spread. As you can see from my awesome photography skills above, the colour pales in comparison to Vegemite.

As I took my first bite of the Marmite slathered bit of toast, I was a wee bit apprehensive - a lot of my friends had described the taste as 'equivalent to tar'.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was not the case - it didn't really taste like tar-like at all! If anything it is just a very milder version of Vegemite - but that could be because of the amount of real butter that is underneath.

For anyone who has tried Vegemite, you know that it is a very strong flavour - one only Australians can love it seems. As my British friend Lily (on a working holiday in Australia) describes 'Vegemite is the poor man's Marmite.'

I, however, disagree. With it's weaker, poorer taste, Marmite is clearly, the poor man's Vegemite.